Brussels, 28/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - European air companies and the aerospace industry do not want a tax on aviation fuel, a measure that they consider difficult to accept from a competitive point of view when other means could be envisaged to fight against environmental pollution. "Attempts to turn us from a growth industry to a stagnating one, by arbitrarily increasing our costs, is hardly the way to encourage us to maintain our fleet renewal programmes, or invest in the latest technologies", commented Karl Heinz Neumeister, Secretary General of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).
In the report presented on 13 March to the Ecofin Council (see EUROPE of 11 March, p.10), the European Commission envisaged two solutions: the introduction of a tax on intra-Community flights operated by EU carriers or the taxation of all flights to or from the Community, whatever the airline company, explains AEA. The Commission rejects the first solution, as it would only have a slight environmental impact, with major loss of competitiveness for European companies. It recommends that member States intensify their efforts within the International Civil Aviation Organisation to reach an international taxation system. But, observes the AEA, "as an initial step, it is proposed that EU Members apply the tax to their domestic flights and, through bilateral agreement between themselves, to intra-Community routes). Mr Neumeister considers this reasoning is "confused and confusing", saying: "the Communication takes as its basis a study that demonstrated in every tax scenario it considered a high cost, both in money and jobs, which was out of all proportion to the microscopically small environmental benefits (…) We can be sure that competition will be distorted and some airlines penalised more than others".
"Aviation is a global industry, and it is essential that the development of any fiscal instruments should be done at the international level, in order to prevent the discriminatory effects", considered the European Association of Aerospace Industries (AECMA). "Any environmental levy on aviation
"Any environmental levy should be used to reduce its impact on the environment, through supporting measures such as accelerated fleet replacement and technology development programmes. The Commission Communication does not say how the revenue from such taxes would be used (..) it s not considering other possible solutions such as the concluding of voluntary agreements on CO2 emissions and the trade in pollution licences.