Elly Schlein and Maurizio Landini tighten the deadlines on the assets. However, a study by the EU Commission reveals all the limits of the tax on wealth. France and Germany have already taken a step back
The Democratic Party calls and the CGIL responds. Indeed, it anticipates. The proposal of the dem secretary, Elly Schleinof a patrimonial, initially European but which would also be replicated at a national level, is not a new concept on the left. At the moment Giuseppe Conte he does not make clear statements, but prefers to monitor the impact on voters, see what the mood is, smell the reactions and examine the periodic polls on preferences.
However, the Democratic Party has made the choice of side, with or without the 5 stars, knowing that it has the support of CGIL. Tomorrow, in Rome, Schlein and the secretary of the Corso Italia union, Maurizio Landinipresent the volume The Italy that doesn’t make it to the end of the month of the former Minister of Labor, Cesare Damianoby the former professor of economic sociology, Mimmo Carrieri and the trade unionist CGIL Agostino Megale who will dialogue with the Democratic Party secretary and Landini on the wage problem and the wealth accumulated in the hands of a few and therefore on the need for fair redistribution. The speakers will not limit themselves to analysis but will provide a solution to break the wages impasse. It is likely that the issue of patrimonial issues will resurface but if not, the ideological foundations have been laid.
The axis between Pd and CGIL for the redistribution of wealth
The next day, Friday in Milan, there is the event organized byEuropean Left Alliancethe alliance of the European left, entitled «Tax the rich, fight inequality and redistribute wealth». Among the participants the Italian Left MP in the Avs group, Elisabetta Piccolotti.
For the CGIL it is a question of reviving a proposal launched in November 2025 and put back in the drawer due to the controversial reactions but never definitively archived. Landini proposed applying a rate of 1.3% to a group of taxpayers, around 500,000, who hold at least 2 million euros. The secretary of the CGIL explained it as «a contribution of solidarity by 1% of the population for the benefit of 99%». The estimated revenue would be approximately 26 billion euros. Resources which, according to the trade unionist, would be used to finance healthcare, education, non-self-sufficiency, housing, social and public transport policies.
The shadows of the European report on wealth tax
But then, assuming that the left manages to get it digested, would the patrimonial law work? This question has already been answered EU Commission who rejected the Schlein thesis in advance. At the end of March, therefore in advance of the launch of the secretary of the Democratic Party, the European Commission published a study, Wealth Taxation, Including Net Wealth, Capital and Exit Taxesentrusted to a consortium of research centers. The work fished out from Corriere della Seragives an overview of the lights and (many) shadows of wealth taxes in the Member States. Over the last thirty years there has been an acceleration of private wealth in the EU which, however, has been concentrated at the top of the social pyramid. So the 1% accelerated faster while the middle class advanced at a slower pace. A situation also conditioned by the high tax pressure on labor and post-crisis budgetary needs. This is where the public debate demanding fairness arises.
At this point the study analyzes the effects of the various property taxes, from the net tax on assets, to capital gains accrued or realized, to inheritances and donations, and exit taxes. Result: none of these generate significant revenue in practice in most Member States. Indeed, revenues have often decreased despite the boom in assets. The reason is known: high thresholds, extended exemptions, favorable regimes, decreasing rates, eroded tax bases. The outcome was different for the countries that adopted it. Germany And Sweden they abolished it, France resized, Norway And Swiss they keep it, Spain combines it with a solidarity tax. On 30 November 2025, Swiss voters rejected with a resounding 78.3% the Young Socialists’ proposal for a 50% federal tax on inheritances and donations above 50 million francs, the second rejection after the no in 2015 (71%), with all 26 cantons against.
