The French Cabinet ministers took a step forward to disclose their personal assets including houses, cars, furniture, jewellery and artworks to the public, says a report from the Telegraph.
This is the first time that the French government has taken such an initiative to deal with the issues of tax scandals.
There was pressure building up on the president Francois Hollande to take some really hard steps in order to solve the tax fraud, which also involves former-budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who kept the money in the French account. Mr. Cahuzac resigned from his post after the investigation was initiated against him by the prosecutors regarding the fraud. Cahuzac pledged to transfer the 600,000 euros (770,000 dollars) held in to his French account
Some ministers amongst the 37 cabinet ministers have already taken a step ahead to disclose their wealth. Michele Delaunay, the minister for elderly announced that her family assets are worth 5.4 million euros. Michele said that her wealth will be “difficult to understand for the majority of the French, who are facing hard times”
She further said that the initiative taken by the government is a much needed step to ward off tax evasion and fraud. Cahuzac, if for some reason would not have taken this step, then it would have been massively seen as an effort to save certain people.
Another minister to disclose wealth is social affairs Minister Marisol Touraine, who disclosed her wealth at 1.4 million euros in assets, based on several properties in Paris. Another minister in the line is Aurelie Filippetti, who took a lighter note when she included a David Beckham T-shirt to her 70 square metres (750-square-foot) flat in Paris. Industrial renewal minister Arnaud Montebourg, announced that he owns a designer lounge chair worth 4,000 euros.
Amid all the disclosure, the most awaited is the property disclosure from Laurent Fabius, the foreign minister who is known for his collections of art. Housing minister Cecile Duflot, disclosed his wealth of a 168,000 euro home and two old cars, which also include the vintage 14 year old Renault Twingo.
The government of France is optimistic regarding the step it has taken to clear the country’s image, which was tainted by the massive scandals related to tax fraud involving Jerome Cahuzac. Other efforts by the government for curbing the tax evasion practices includes probe into tax havens.
There will also be a new authority, which will independently look over the assets and any probable clashes of interest of ministers.
