Tax the rich

A European Citizens' Initiative

09/10/2023

The collection of signatures for the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) “Tax the rich” has started. Our goal is to tax great wealth to finance the ecological and social transition, and if we collect 1 million signatures from citizens across the EU, the European Commission will have to propose legislation on the issue. 

SIGN HERE THE EUROPEAN CITIZENS’ INITIATIVE – TAX THE RICH

FEPS is one of the campaign organisers, and László Andor, FEPS Secretary General, is among its initiators. The lead team consists of prominent policymakers, academics and activists in the field of social justice and economic democracy: 

  • Paul Magnette  is Chairman of the Socialist Party in Belgium
  • Thomas Piketty is Economist (France), famous for his studies on inequality
  • Aurore Lalucq is Member of the European Parliament, Place publique (France)
  • László Andor is FEPS Secretary General (Hungary)
  • Marlene Engelhorn is multimillionaire (Austria), one of the creators of “Tax Me Now” and  member of MillionairesforHumanity 
  • Lars Koch is Secretary General of Oxfam Denmark
  • Conny Reuter is Global Coordinator of Progressive Alliance
  • Patrizio Laina is Chief Economist at the Finnish Confederation of Professionals (STTK)

Background

The present citizens’ initiative calls on the European Commission to introduce a European tax on excess wealth.

For more than a decade, the crises facing the European Union have proliferated: economic, social, health, geopolitical, and environmental. These are a symptom of the failure of the economic, tax and social policies pursued by national governments and the European Union. To address these challenges, there is an urgent need to fundamentally redirect the European Union towards a just and democratic climate transition. 

This initiative proposes the establishment of a tax on excess wealth to help the fight against climate change and inequality. It will contribute to the European Union’s own resources, generating revenue that would enable the EU to co-finance the ecological and social transition policies pursued by the Union and its Member States. 

The establishment of a European excess wealth tax would respond to numerous calls from civil society, scientists and elected representatives to this end. Only recently, more than a hundred MEPs, supported by several economists, called on the EU to introduce a progressive tax on extreme wealth. The forthcoming Directive on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational groups in the Union has already shown that the EU is capable of agreeing on more tax fairness. More generally, the Conference on the Future of Europe stressed the need to harmonise tax policy, and to use it as a lever to fight the environmental crisis.

FEPS has been promoting the idea of a wealth tax for some time. Check out our policy study A European wealth tax for a fair and green recovery and the series of videos on the topic: #TaxJustice

To learn more about how the European Citizens Initiative works, read the EC page on ECI

Find all related publications
Publications
04/02/2025

Tackling tax avoidance

Reforming Capital Income Taxation in the EU
14/05/2024

Tightening welfare belts again?

FEPS YAN Series
13/03/2023

EU fiscal rules: Time for a reboot

The EU fiscal rules are one of, if not the most discussed aspects of EU […]
04/10/2022

Europe’s social integration

Welfare models and economic transformations
Find all related events
Events
Upcoming
07/02/2025
Helsinki, Finland

International tax policy at crossroads

FEPS Fringe event at the Tax Conference Veroareena
Past
04/02/2025
Brussels, Belgium

Capital and wealth taxation in the EU

Ways forward on the path for Social Justice
29/10/2024
Bratislava, Slovakia

Who will pay for the green transition?

The green transformation of society is both a necessity and an opportunity for a better […]
Find all related news
News
27/06/2024

Join Tax the EU Billionaires Day!

Do you know that the richest 1% in Europe owns half of European wealth? Join […]
18/10/2022

Open letter to call for a deep reform of the EU fiscal rules

FEPS cosigned an open letter to EU leaders calling for them to address the underlying structural […]
14/09/2017

Activity Report: 3CTB Experts’ Meeting

The Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) together with the Group of the Progressive Alliance […]
Find all related in the media
In the media

Megadóztatná a szupergazdagokat? Ha igen, most tehet valamit

by Zöld Hang 04/10/2024
'Would you tax the super-rich? If so, you can do something now' Interview to FEPS Secretary General, László Andor on the 'Tax the rich' EU initiative by the Hungarian newspaper Zöld Hang.

“Trade doesn’t work in isolation from good domestic policies” Interview to Arancha González

by Borderlex 19/09/2023
Interview to Arancha González, former Spanish foreign minister, who released together with FEPS the new book entitled 'The Trade Handbook: Making Trade Work for Prosperity, People and Planet'

International taxation and green public investments – EURACTIV

27/10/2021

How rich countries profit from the OECD tax deal – EURACTIV

27/10/2021