The first president of the Court of Auditors, who had to cancel his first visit to the island a few months ago, arrived at the right time in Reunion on March 28 to respond to the concerns of elected officials and local producers about dock dues.
At the beginning of the month, the Court of Auditors had a report evaluating the effects of this old tax on the development of the overseas departments. The study ended with the following conclusion : the status quo option must be ruled out, two development scenarios are possible. Reform is possible, provided that it is not limited to “a few scattered and small-scale measures”. The second scenario made the local political class and economic circles jump : “substitute dock dues with a new resource, which could rely on the VAT model via in particular a regional VAT. » Pierre Moscovici slightly backpedaled during his visit, by explaining to its numerous successive interlocutors that the Court of Auditors favored the scenario of a reform. Former Minister of Finance, who was also European Commissioner for Taxation, especially insisted on the need not to wait passively for the 2027 deadline, year of re-examination by the European Commission of the approval granted to dock dues since 2021. At the end of his stay, Pierre Moscovici launched a consensual idea : call on the regional chamber of accounts to carry out investigations into the mechanisms of price formation on the island. Two weeks ago, Serge Hoareau, president of the Association of Mayors, had announced the launch of a similar study across the French Overseas Territories with the aim of demonstrating that the high cost of living on the islands had many causes other than dock dues.
