Meeting in Bucharest, the members of the European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) Commission for the Environment, Climate Change and Energy (ENVE) adopted an amendment on Wednesday 12 June, at the 24th meeting of the ENVE Commission, calling for the phasing out of direct and indirect subsidies for fossil fuels, such as the tax exemptions currently granted to aviation fuel.
Complementing a draft opinion prepared by Witold Stępień (EPP, Poland) on the implementation of the Paris Agreement, the amendment specifies that such a measure would make it possible “to create a level playing field for renewable energies, encourage behavioural change and generate the necessary resources to support a just transition”.
While there are differences in the Council of the European Union on air transport taxation to combat climate change - with taxation of kerosene as one of the tracks under consideration (see EUROPE 12270/6) - this amendment can be seen as a signal sent by the ENVE Commission to the EU institutions.
In addition, a European Commission study released by the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) in mid-May and published by the Commission on 6 June suggests that further taxation of the European aviation sector could significantly reduce CO2 emissions without having a major negative impact on a Member State's overall employment, tax revenues and GDP (see EUROPE 12253/14).
The final version of this opinion will be put to the vote in plenary session between 7 and 9 October.
To consult the draft opinion: https://bit.ly/2MGVQP7 (Damien Genicot - intern)