Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

French ministers to declare wealth publicly

France's embattled government took further steps on Monday to deal with the fallout of the tax fraud scandal that felled ex-Budget Minister Jerome Cahuzac. Ministers will be now have to show the public the colour of their money.

Published: 8 April 2013 15:44 CEST
French ministers to declare wealth publicly
Hollande with the disgraced Cahuzac, whose secret Swiss bank account has plunged the government into scandal. Photo: AFP

French ministers will declare their assets publicly by April 15, the prime minister's office said on Monday, as the government seeks to limit the damage from an ex-minister's tax fraud scandal.

The government will also put forward a law by April 24 on financial transparency among ministers and other top officials, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in a statement.

The move comes as President Francois Hollande's government scrambles to contain a scandal surrounding former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who last
week was charged with tax fraud after admitting to having an undeclared foreign bank account.

PM Ayrault said measures to boost financial transparency would be presented to a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and that he would meet with the speakers and faction chiefs of the lower house National Assembly and upper house Senate the following day.

"The prime minister is preparing… a package of measures to ensure complete transparency on the assets of politicians and staff working with ministers, the president and the prime minister," Ayrault said.

He said measures would also be taken to "more severely punish breaches of the financial law and ethics and integrity rules, and to strengthen the fight against tax fraud and tax havens".

Last week the president vowed he would "go all the way" in a bid to clean up French politics.

"I will go all the way on these questions because I have nothing to fear from the strict application of the laws that exist and the application of the new laws," Hollande told journalists at a news conference in Rabat.

He said France was a great nation that would "not accept being humiliated."

"To be clear… it is not the government that is being challenged, it is one man who failed."

Hollande came under further pressure on Thursday when his one-time campaign treasurer admitted he was a partner in firms registered in the Cayman Islands tax haven.

The president insisted he was not aware that Jean-Jacques Augier, had joint ownership of two firms registered in the tax haven.

"I know nothing about these activities, and if they do not conform to French tax law, I will ask the administration" to make the "necessary corrections," the embattled president said at a news conference in Rabat.

"It is for the tax administration to do its work" on these "private activities," he added.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

8 things you never knew about Andorra

The tiny statelet nestled in the Pyrenees mountains that mark the border between France and Spain hit the headlines with its new language requirement for residency permits – but what else is there to know about Andorra?

Published: 26 April 2024 15:11 CEST
8 things you never knew about Andorra

This week, Andorra passed a law setting a minimum Catalan language requirement for foreign residents. 

It’s not often the tiny, independent principality in the mountains makes the news – other than, perhaps, when its national football team loses (again) to a rather larger rival in international qualifying competitions.

The national side are due to play Spain in early June, as part of the larger nation’s warm-up for the Euro 2024 tournament in Germany. Here, then, in case you’re watching that match, at Estadio Nuevo Vivero, are a few facts about Andorra that you can astound your fellow football fans with…

Size matters

Small though it is – it has an area of just 468 square kilometres, a little more than half the size of the greater Paris area – there are five smaller states in Europe, 15 smaller countries in the world by area, and 10 smaller by population.

People

Its population in 2023 was 81,588. That’s fewer people than the city of Pau, in southwest France (which is itself the 65th largest town in France, by population).

High-living

The principality’s capital, Andorra la Vella (population c20,000 – about the same population as Dax) is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres above sea level. 

Spoken words

The official language – and the one you’ll need for a residency permit – is Catalan. But visitors will find Spanish, Portuguese and French are also commonly spoken, and a fair few people will speak some English, too.

Sport

We’ve already mentioned the football. But Andorra’s main claim to sporting fame is as a renowned winter sports venue. With about 350km of ski runs, across 3,100 hectares of mountainous terrain, it boasts the largest ski area in the Pyrenees.

Economic model

Tourism, the mainstay of the economy, accounts for roughly 80 percent of Andorra’s GDP. More than 10 million tourists visit every year.

It also has no sales tax on most items – which is why you’ll often find a queue at the French border as locals pop into the principality to buy things like alcohol, cigarettes and (bizarrely) washing powder, which are significantly cheaper.

Head of state

Andorra has two heads of state, because history. It’s believed the principality was created by Charlemagne (c748 – 814CE), and was ruled by the count of Urgell up to 988CE, when it was handed over to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The principality, as we know it today, was formed by a treaty between the bishop of Urgell and the count of Foix in 1278.

Today, the state is jointly ruled by two co-princes: the bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain and … the president of France, who (despite the French aversion to monarchy and nobility) has the title Prince of Andorra, following the transfer of the count of Foix’s claims to the Crown of France and, subsequently, to the head of state of the French Republic. 

Military, of sorts

Andorra does have a small, mostly ceremonial army. But all able-bodied Andorran men aged between 21 and 60 are obliged to respond to emergency situations, including natural disasters.

Legally, a rifle should be kept and maintained in every Andorran household – though the same law also states that the police will supply a firearm if one is required.

SHOW COMMENTS