Brussels, 16/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The MEP Christine de Veyrac (EPP-ED, France) took the opportunity of an exchange of views, which was held on Tuesday between the committee on transport of the EP and Commissioner Barrot, to voice her opposition to planned taxation on airline tickets to help pay for development aid. As the first vice president of the Sky and Space Intergroup of the EP, she is deeply concerned that a new tax on the transport sector could have an impact on the rest of the economy and on growth, whereas airlines have already been hit hard by the hike in oil prices, and that this tax would lead to an increase in the price of tickets, to the detriment of passengers, particularly the poorest. If the option finally chosen was an optional tax, the decision of a Member State unilaterally to impose a tax on companies present on its territory could distort competition within the single market, she warned. She therefore called for this plan (which has been examined by the finance ministers of the EU and by the Commission) to be scrapped.