Questioned ahead of the informal meeting of EU transport ministers (see other news), Belgian minister Georges Gilkinet was in favour of the idea of a minimum fare on air tickets.
This idea, put forward by his counterpart Clément Beaune (see EUROPE 13240/21), to combat social and environmental dumping “is an interesting idea from my French colleague, because you have to pay the correct price for flying”. “And if the price is too low it means that you work against social conditions for workers and that you do not take the Climate Question seriously enough”, reacted Mr Gilkinet.
“We as the Belgian Government would like to have a tax on kerosene, if we can get an agreement at European level“, he announced. “We have to put a fair price on aviation, which has a huge impact on the climate”, he added.
The other ministers were less enthusiastic. At a press conference, the Spanish minister, Raquel Sánchez Jiménez, said that the idea required “in-depth analysis” to determine whether it was legally feasible and what the economic repercussions would be.
The Swedish minister, Andreas Carlson, opposed such a measure because, in his view, it could hamper territorial cohesion and the competitiveness of the airline industry. (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)