Major European airlines say that Dutch State Secretary for Finance Menno Snel is spreading various inaccuracies and nonsense about the need to introduce a European flight tax. According to Airlines for Europe (A4E), the statement on a European flight tax that Snel handed over to the European Commission last week is full of errors.
The Netherlands, Belgium, and seven other EU countries have called on the European Commission to draft legislation for a European flight tax. The countries say they want to work together in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from aviation.
A4E believes there is much to criticize in the statement. For instance, there are significant differences between taxes and charges paid by different modes of transport. “Unlike road transport and railways – which receive large amounts of government subsidies – the aviation industry pays the majority of its infrastructure costs itself, on top of covering most security costs,” A4E states.
According to A4E, figures from IATA show that airlines paid 31 billion euros in 2017 in Europe for the use of airport infrastructure. Furthermore, aviation has been paying for emissions since 2012 through the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). The costs of this have tripled since 2018.
“It is simply incorrect to claim that aviation is not taxed at all or that the sector contributes too little. Last year, European airlines paid more than five billion euros in ETS and environmental taxes.
According to A4E, aviation “needs a global solution to a global problem.” The organization states that aviation is the only industry with a worldwide agreed mechanism (CORSIA) to tackle CO2 emissions. Through this program, airlines will fund climate projects around the world starting in 2021.
“At this critical moment, the EU must focus on supporting our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and take effective measures, rather than resorting to symbolic gestures such as taxes, which have no real impact on CO2 reduction,” reads the airlines’ response to the possible introduction of an EU-wide kerosene tax.