Basque president Ibarretxe's visit to Brittany allowed to highlight, as if there was any need for it, the differences in strategy, potential, development and political behaviour between the Basque Country and Brittany.

Put an end to the current parochialist attitude

It did not happen by chance, but thanks to a nationalist government in the Basque Country, as opposed to the parochialist governance in Brittany. Recently, during the debate on the French public broadcasting system, most of the Breton councillors merely blindly denounced (for the French left-wing) or followed (for the French right-wing). Such partisan stances do not require much effort... but are in middle-term sterile. If the Breton Party had been in charge, it would not have missed the opportunity to propose, negociate and obtain -at least- for the 4,4 million Bretons what the 280 000 Corsicans got already a few years ago from the same Nicolas Sarkozy: a Corsican TV channel.

Towards fiscal autonomy

Yet the Breton Party's ambition is not only to defend better the Breton interests faced with the French state (which would nevertheless be a real progress in comparison with the current situation), but to offer the Bretons a new democratic boost, and provide them with the means for their development. In this matter, fiscal autonomy is an essential lever. The Basque Country perceives all the Basque taxes, and gives back 8% of it to the Spanish central government, in accordance with the latter. The budget that the Basque people manage is all the more considerable, and does not depend on the uncertainties of state-region negotiations, which enables them to enjoy consequent means in a long-term perspective.

Immediate and lasting consequences for the purchasing power

One of the consequences of such fiscal autonomy is the reduction of the tax management cost. Setting up a Breton fiscal administration will create jobs in Brittany and allow to save money, without even mentioning the tax rate. By adopting the Spanish or Irish model (twice as cheap) -without even mentioning the Swedish one, which is three times as cheap as the French one- 200 million euro can be saved and spent to boost the Breton economy. And in such crisis times, the Breton Party proposes to use first and foremost this amount to solidarity and the purchasing power of the Bretons.

For the Breton Party, the president, Gérard Olliéric

(1) let us remind that the Basque Country has been managed over the 30 past years by the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), with which the Breton Party has a privileged relationship