Earth Rights Institute - The Georgist Registry Global Report: Europe

The Georgist Registry Global Report: Europe

THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR LAND VALUE TAXATION AND FREE TRADE
Godfrey Dunkley, President
Barbara Sobrielo, Honorary Secretary
177 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London SW1V 1 EU, UK
Phone: 0171834-4266 Fax: 0171-834-4979

The 1995 conference was held in Roskilde, Denmark in July. The next conference is scheduled for July, 1997 in Brighton, England. Officers elected for the period 1995-1997 are:

President: Godfrey Dunkley Vice President: Ole Lefman Hon. Treasurer: Jose Mernane Asst. Hon. Sec.: Jessica Baker

Representatives of each country to the IU are: Australia-Geoff Forster, Canada-Mary Rawson, Denmark-Per Moller Andersen, England-Doris Norris, Hungary-Karoly Ravasz, Ireland-Michael Horsman, New Zealand-Robert Keall, Russia-Tatyana Roskoshnaya, and USA-George Collins.

Members of the Executive Committee are: Pat Aller-USA, Svend Dinsen-Denmark, Fred Harrison-England, Lowell Harriss-USA, John Loveless-England, John Rider-England, Ben Sevack-Canada, Norman Slater-England, and Karl Williams-Australia.

The Union's principal thrust since July, 1995 has been to serve as Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) member of the United Nations, for the Georgist movement, worldwide. The IU's 1996 delegates to the UN Habitat II conference in Ankara, Turkey, May, 1996 are: Alanna Hartzok and Barbara Sobriello of the UK. Pat Aller is resigning her post after the 1996 conference and Alanna Hartzok will become the IU's delegate.

At the 1995 United Nations NGO meeting in Denmark, Danish Georgists rented a 10 sq. meter booth in which were displayed a selection of Georgist books and material. They also organized three lectures entitled: "Poverty is a Crime", "Employment Access to Nature:, and "Competition and Co-operation in International Trade". Ole Leffman gave two of the lectures and Ronald Banks of England gave the third. In 1996, Mary Rose Kaczorowski will be presenting a slide show. Pat Aller has served as a member of the Habitat Committee (UN Centre for Human Settlements), co-chaired by Jim Moorage, who has studied at the Henry George School and is very sympathetic to land-value taxation.

Alana Hartzok proposed land-value taxation to an conference on Global Governance as a way for nations to pay their UN Dues. Her ideas were set forth in the booklet she wrote, Financing Planet Management: Sovereignty, World Order and the Earth Rights Imperative, published by the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation. She will continue to find many ways to use Georgist ideas at the UN to:

assert humanity's rights to land;
show how LVT can finance reforms at any level;
help the UN succeed in its vital work.

LAND POLICY COUNCIL
Fred Harrison, Director
54 Harrow View Road
London W5ILZ, England
Phone: 081-943-1379 FAX 081-943-1379

A new Georgist organization was created in London in 1995 to Promote the Georgist philosophy on a professional basis. With no resources to start, the Council appealed for funds and received a total of 30,000 pounds from well-wishers throughout the world.

The Council is composed of lifelong Georgists based in London, and Fred Harrison was appointed as the Director. It will become involved in fiscal reform anywhere in the world where it can make a difference.

LPC's bi-monthly bulletin, Insight, was the primary vehicle for arresting the attention of leading members of the British Labor Party which is likely to form the government after the general election in April, 1997. Insight provides 4 pages of cutting-edge analysis of economic issues that cannot be found anywhere else. Subscribers frequently elect to subsidize a free copy to a member of Parliament.

A major part of efforts were directed at Russia with a campaign built around the DMA elections in December, 1995 and the Presidential election in June, 1996. The Russian Fund, now almost exhausted, has funded most of the work in Russia. It was supported by Georgists who contributed about 70,000 pounds over the last 4 years. The final few thousand pounds will be devoted to a major congress in Moscow just before the Presidential election. Twelve distinguished Georgist speakers will offer their timely critique of the Land Code which was about to receive its Second Reading in the Duma. That Code will set the seal for the future of land policy in Russia for another century, so a great deal hangs on whether the congress is able to influence Deputies in the Duma.

Major efforts will be made in 1996 to secure funding from governments and major philanthropic institutions to accommodate requests for assistance in reforming the real estate market and taxation at the municipal level.

Fred Harrison began work on his next solo book: Freedom and the End of Territorial Man. (now almost completed), which he believes will significantly broaden public interest in the Georgist philosophy. Appeals for financial support in 1996 were sent out and the fate of LPC's work now depends on financial support and goodwill of Georgists around the world.

The HENRY GEORGE FOUNDATION OF GREAT BRITAIN
John Loveless, Chairman
177 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London SW1V 1 EU, UK
Phone: 0171834-4266 Fax: 0171-834-4979

The Centre for Incentive Taxation has been reorganized and renamed, The Henry George Foundation of Great Britain. Dr. Loveless is now Chairman; Norman Slater is the Secretary and John Cormack is the Treasurer.

The accomplishments of the Foundation for the period July 1994 to June 1996 include the following:

It published the three books of The Georgist Paradigm:: The Corruption of Economics, Land and Taxation, and Philosophy for a Fair Society.

It sponsored a campaign to establish Site Value Rating in Russia, conducted by Fred Harrison, Ron Banks and other associates from the United States and South Africa.
It established an organizational structure, a research division, and a cadre of Regional Representatives.
It set up an Editorial Board to vet their publications.
It prepared a number of short and simple flysheets relative to current economic/social problems.

Plans for 1996-97 include:

the improvement of office technology and the development of an expanded and more sophisticated data base;
getting the organization on e-mail and on the Internet; mounting a major campaign for supporters
conducting a symposium on "The Seven Deadly Sins of Modern Economists";
relaunching of the magazine Land and Liberty, reformatted, redesigned, and with content presentation restyled;
publishing a number of new booklets; and
hosting the International Union for LVT and Free Trade Conference in Brighton in 1997.

Georgists around the world are urged to plan now to attend this important conference.

ECONOMIC JUSTICE MOVEMENT
John Loveless, Director
c/o Department of Civil Engineering
University of Bristol BS8 1 TR GREAT BRITAIN
Phone 01-17-928-8198

The inaugural meeting of this organization took place in November, 1995, at Bristol. The second meeting occurred February, 1996 in London. An organizing committee was appointed and a name for the organization was chosen. Its objectives are: to establish a popular Georgist Organization in the UK with as wide a membership as possible in contrast to the more learned organizations now existing; and to ultimately form a political party.

The immediate plans for this organization are to: prepare the Progressive Manifesto (a platform statement); and to enlarge its membership.

DANMARKS RETSFORBUND LANDSFORMANDEN
Paul C. Kristiansen, Chairman
Danmarks Retsforbund Landsformanden
Lynbyvej 42, 2100 Kobenhavn O
Denmark
Phone: 31-20-44-88 Fax: 31-20-44-50

DFL is a political party not represented in the Danish Parliament presently, but working to rectify that situation and getting ready for the next general election.

DFL engages year round in publicity and political discussions incorporating Georgist theory and policy.

The present emphasis is on fighting Danish membership in the European Union (embodying trade restrictions) and influencing the 1996 summit meeting of the European Union.

DEN DANSKE HENRY GEORGE FORENING (The Danish Henry George Society)
Phone: 01-359-103
Dalstroget 161, street. tv., Denmark 2860

STICHTING GRONDVEST (Land Charter Foundation)
PO Box 5118, 1007 AC Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: 01-131-2973-6608

CENTRE D'ESTUDIS D'ECONOMIC NATURAL
Apartado 9108, Barcelona, Spain

THE CENTRE FOR ESTONIAN LAND POLICY RESEARCH (Kesti Maapolitika Uurimiskeskus [EMUK])
Dr. Henn Elmet, Vice-President
The Agricultural University of Estonia
Riia 12 EE2400 Tartu Estonia
Phone: 372-7-431-611 Fax: 372-7-431-573

Olaf Klasen, liason contact in Canada and USA
#7 - 2436 York Ave.
Vancouver, B.C.
Phone and Fax: (604) 733-5937

The research centre was established in spring, 1994, in co-operation with the Henry George Foundation of America. The objective is to conduct research on land policy matters such as land and agricultural reform, land appraisal and taxation, land development, surveying, etc. EMUK's research program is multi-disciplinary involving faculty members from the departments of Forestry, Engineering and Land as well as specialists from other universities and institutions in Estonia and abroad.

Land holding, use, and taxation have become major issues of debate relative to their impact on Estonian economic development. Therefore the National Assembly of Estonia needs to give consideration of these issues top priority in 1996.

The centre has studied existing legislation related to land reform in Estonia, and will propose new legislation to make Estonia's economy efficient, productive, and competitive in the world marketplace -- legislation compatible with principles set forth by Henry George. To assure favorable action on these matters, EMKU will distribute an open letter to the President of Estonia, the government, and the members of the National Assembly, calling for an equitable and efficient system of taxation emphasizing land value taxation in particular, and rational and just land policy.

ECOGRAD RESEARCH CENTER, RUSSIA
Tamara Chistyakova, Director
Tatyana Roskoshnaya, Associate Director
5 Torzhkovskaya St.
St. Petersburg 197342, Russia
Phone: 812-246-1396 Fax: 812-551-2006
E-mail: ecograd@ecograd.spb.su

EcoGrad works with administrations of local, municipal and regional governments to provide information helpful in solving ecological, economic and social problems. All reports stress information about land rent as a source of public revenue and steps to take toward implementing a system to collect such rents under present conditions in Russia.

In cooperation with Georgists in Great Britain, USA, and other countries, EcoGrad published a number of pamphlets and two books based on seminars held in St. Petersburg in Sept., 1992Land Valuation in Russian Cities Under Conditions of our Transitional PeriodandLand and in January, 1993Land and Property. English translations of the books are planned.

In 1995 and 1996 EcoGrad participated in programs sponsored by professional training firms. Now, participants throughout Russia receive Ecograd's pamphlets. Two of the newest were written by Fred Harrison, about the creation of a real estate market in Russia.

EcoGrad continues work with the new Duma and the Federal government, especially the Ministries of Construction, National Affairs, and Federal Relations. Unfortunately, many of the President's Decrees relative to land were prepared and signed under strong pressure from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, US Government agencies, etc. But Ecograd's assessment is that privatization of land will not go forward rapidly, at least till after the Presidential election.

EcoGrad has proposed several pilot projects, well received by different cities all over Russia, but they require changes in the system of taxation, making it difficult to implement the proposed projects. Novgorod was quite ready, a year ago, to initiate a real estate tax on land only, based on a plan developed by Ted Gwartney, Ron Banks and their associates, and Tatyana Roskoshnaya and specialists from Novgorod's Administration and Land Committee. The city had begun serious work on land assessment and the restructuring of its budget. But that project was undermined by American agencies which won support in Moscow by offering very large grants of money to implement "bad ideas"a standard, merged, property tax which falls on land and buildings at a very low rate, with no reductions of existing taxes. Novgorod is now being provided with legal and administrative advice by Jane Malme, a Lincoln Institute fellow, participating in a USAID funded project. (American Georgists are responding by preparing for a suit against the Lincoln Foundation which would force it to use its $100 million in assets in accord with its legal obligation set forth in its Articles of Incorporation, "to teach and expound the ideas of Henry George as set out in his book, Progress and Poverty).

Fred Harrison reports that "The Yeltsin Government, while willing to sell the Russian soul for a pile of dollars, has nonetheless built into its thinking the need for a land tax. Although the revenue from this tax is pitifully small, the token recognition of the principlethe need for a direct levy on landis worth something.

EcoGrad hopes to catapult from this platform toward a political system based on equity and efficiency. But their continued work depends on obtaining funding, however modest.

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