TAE against "Bail-out-Union"

European Taxpayers Association against “Bail-out Union“ - Solidarity: yes; automated financial grants: no!

On its international spring meeting in Ukraine with financial experts from Europe and the US, the Taxpayers Association of Europe (TAE) advocated for establishing the requirement that financial grants to EU countries in financial difficulties (Greece, Ireland and Portugal) are only paid after executing close examinations and after sufficient securities have been furnished.

According to the TAE, solidarity is a solidarity duty of the European Union’s member states. However, it shouldn’t become a habit that the other countries have to carry the burden of country-specific financial problems.

Luxury and sloppiness to the detriment of European taxpayers are threatening the principle of solidarity and might endanger the citizens overall acceptance of the European Union. In the long run, the citizens from donor countries will not be ready to support the disadvantages resulting from the recipient countries’ uneconomic budget management.

The support for Greece, Ireland and Portugal has reached a financial volume the European Union is hardly able to shoulder, so Taxpayers President von Hohenhau. What is more, countries like Italy and Spain are at the ready. Their financial needs would far exceed the support rendered up to now and prove impossible to be absorbed by the solidarity communion.

In addition to budget consolidating measures, the solidarity aid provided must be backed up by sustainable security deposits, so the Taxpayers President. In the case of Greece this would concern property such as participations, real estate and other reserve assets.

Once more the meeting took account of the EU’s request for collecting its own taxes, a request declined by the TAE for years because it would surely be additive and thus lead to an extra burden of the European citizens. In addition, the EU’s tax authority would very soon lead to bureaucracy-related charges, so the TAE President.

The TAE announced in Ukraine a large-scale campaign against the EU plans to raise its own direct tax.

Further information:

TAE office Munich, Michael Jäger:
Phone: +49/89/12600820

TAE office Brussels, Walter Grupp:
Phone: +32/2/7387112