French shipowners have been forced to defend the country’s tonnage tax system as it has become a talking point in the upcoming parliamentary elections with a number of parties including the frontrunner suggesting they will scrap the shipping measure.
National Rally’s Jordan Bardella, who is leading the polls to become the next prime minister, is one of the politicians who have vowed to axe the tonnage tax if he comes to power.
The tax system has been in place since 2003. Political experts in France have suggested Bardella’s negative stance on it has been influenced by French president Emanuel Macron’s close ties with Rodolphe Saadé (pictured), the head of Marseille-based CMA CGM. The shipping giant posted profits of €23.5bn ($25.12bn) in 2022, unprecedented in French economic history, and something that Bardella has referenced in recent weeks.
Saadé is one of a host of top names in French shipping including Édouard Louis Dreyfus to have penned an open letter defending the tax system, pointing out that 22 other European Union member states have a similar set-up. The owners argued that the repeal of the tonnage tax system would lead to a breakdown in the competitiveness of the French maritime and port sectors as well as the decline of a French flag.
Snap elections, called by Macron earlier this month, will take place on June 30 and July 7.
