By revealing the plaque “remarkable heritage site” at the entrance to Château Lauratet, a sumptuous 19th century Creole villae century, seat of the regional chamber of accounts of Reunion, Pierre Moscovici appreciates, Friday March 29, his only moment of respite. As the first president of the Court of Auditors soberly says, the report of the critical financial jurisdiction on dock dues, published at the beginning of the month, “invited himself” in the agenda of his trip to this department of the Indian Ocean.
The traditional protocol visits to elected officials have been transformed into sessions “necessary text explanations” of the report, which caused an uproar. Because the document recommends a profound reform of this tax inherited from the 17the century on imported products massively financing overseas local authorities. The president of the regional council, Huguette Bello (various left), described it as “real ukase” by condemning a “partial, biased and oriented analysis”.
Rather than the word “reform”almost all local elected officials have heard “deletion”. No doubt because the government is considering its replacement by a regional VAT included in the 2025 finance bill. In 2022, the dock dues generated 1.64 billion euros for the five overseas departments, including 600 million euros in Reunion.
Tax “too little transparent”
“I was struck by the number of simplifications, caricatures, reductions in the ambient air”, notes Pierre Moscovici, repeating tirelessly for two days that “no, the Court of Auditors did not propose its destruction, its replacement by a regional VAT, or say that the dock dues were the main factor in the cost of living.”
This tax, considered as ” breathless ” And “too little transparent” by the Court of Auditors, must be the subject of a new request for approval in 2027 before the European Commission. And “it is better to come forward with a reformed tax”, insists the former European Commissioner for Taxation (2014-2019) by advising “an intelligent and concerted path” rather than “brutality or the status quo”.
The Court of Auditors n / A “no hidden political agenda”, further replied Pierre Moscovici to an elected official who had questioned the independence of the jurisdiction and castigated its “complicity with the government”.
“Protection of local economic activity”
One of the criticisms that goes down poorly among Reunionese elected officials is that this tax does not finance investment enough but is earmarked at 75% in the operating budgets of communities. “These are expenses that go into social, schools, sport, culture, defends Ericka Bareigts, the mayor of Saint-Denis de La Réunion (PS), saying she is frightened by the 10 billion euros in savings that the government intends to make in 2024. Here, 40% of the population lives below the poverty line. This expenditure contributes to the development of Reunion Island and ensures a local public service.”
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