Should the payment of State aid to European airlines be made conditional on the adoption of green technologies and the introduction of new taxes as soon as possible?
This is the argument being put forward by environmental organisations such as Transport and Environment (see EUROPE 12450/18), while many States are negotiating financial support for airlines, which have been hard hit by the paralysis of air transport caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Airline carbon emissions increased by 1.5% in Europe in 2019, while those of other sectors (electricity and large industry) fell by 8.9%, Transport and Environment noted on Thursday 16 April, on the basis of new data from the European Emissions Trading Scheme.
“While airlines’ emissions will fall this year due to COVID-19, they are expected to bounce back unless airlines are required to start paying taxes and using cleaner fuels once conditions improve”, the organisation said.
In particular, airlines have obtained from Eurocontrol a temporary deferral of the payment of certain fees (see EUROPE 12463/21).
“Unfortunately, such a plan only moves the current liquidity crisis to a later date”, the Airlines for Europe organisation said at the time, calling for a full year’s exemption to allow the sector to recover.
However, the idea of linking fees to climate targets is gaining ground. The Austrian Minister for the Environment and Mobility, Leonore Gewessler, believes that such conditions should be considered for Austrian aid to Austrian Airlines, which is currently under negotiation.
“If we are discussing the investment of several hundred million euros, then we also need to discuss clear conditionality on the money”, the minister said in an interview with Austrian radio FM4 on Thursday. “We should also use any money that we invest as leverage”, she added. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)