May Day: chair of Flemish socialist Vooruit Conner Rousseau calls for millionaire’s tax

1 May is Labour Day. Political parties and trade unions celebrate their historic struggle for workers’ rights.

PM De Wever’s 5-way government that includes Flemish socialist Vooruit as the only left-leaning party has to plug a budget gap of 5 billion euros. Within the coalition there is heated debate over exactly where those funds should come from. That tension was also the central theme in Conner Rousseau’s address to his supporters.

Millionaire’s tax is back

The Flemish socialist leader reiterated his well-known call to “ask for a contribution from a small, select group” of Belgium’s wealthiest. In his view, a millionaire’s tax is necessary to get the budget back on track.

"These are difficult times," he told VRT NEWS. "And that means you have to make difficult choices. Anyone who wants to save the future will have to make sacrifices. But that will only work if everyone does their bit."

A view that is certainly not shared by the entire government. Earlier Francophone liberal chair Georges-Louis Bouchez described the millionaire’s tax as a “monstrosity”.

But Rousseau is sticking to his line. He emphasises that all options must be on the table. "To get the country back on track, you have to dare to talk about everything. There will have to be savings, there will have to be reforms, but there will also have to be revenue."

"If you say that it shouldn’t come from the super-rich, then you’re saying it has to come from ordinary working people. And we don’t do that. It’s simple maths. You can only ask people to make sacrifices if they know you’re also asking something of the rich, who won’t actually feel the pinch."

He concludes with a clear promise to his supporters. "We are not the largest party in the government. I am not the Prime Minister. But I do promise that I will fight."

"Political courage is lacking"

The same message is echoed by the socialist trade union ABVV. Like Rousseau, ABVV chair Bert Engelaar explicitly advocated in his speech for a greater contribution from the wealthiest.

According to the trade unionist, the bill must not once again be passed on to the sick, pensioners or people who are temporarily out of work.

Engelaar sees potential savings of around 21 billion euros in a reform of the income tax system, which would now include income from capital and property and do away with special exemptions. He also believes that subsidies and ‘tax breaks’ should be reviewed.

“We are not asking for envy. We are asking for fairness,” he says. “The solutions are there. What is lacking is political courage.”