Brussels - Fuel tax havens such as Luxembourg and Spain may have to raise their low diesel taxes following a vote in the European Parliament in Strasbourg this afternoon on a proposal to revise the EU’s Energy Tax law. Commenting on the outcome of the vote, Magnus Nilsson, senior campaigner at T&E said: “This vote is good news for countries like Portugal, Belgium, France and Germany who currently lose billions in tax revenue as a result of lorries filling up in fuel tax havens such as Luxembourg and Spain. Lower diesel taxes are bad for the climate and force governments to find cash elsewhere, such as by raising job-killing labour taxes. ”
The coalition of American aviation interests that challenged the EU’s right to introduce emissions trading to air transport has abandoned its legal action. A group of six NGOs welcomed the decision, but said the airline coalition’s failure to accept December’s ruling by the European Court of Justice suggests the Americans may be moving the battlefield elsewhere.
The Commission should make a meaningful proposal this year for the EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from maritime transport. That is the message delivered by 15 NGOs to the EU climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard and five other commissioners in a letter dated 23 March, which specifically offers help in drawing up a proposal.
United, American Airlines, and their trade association, Airlines for America, gave up on a lost cause, a late and ill-conceived legal challenge to the European Union’s landmark law limiting global warming pollution from aviation.
The EU should pave the way for a global action on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from shipping.
This briefing highlights quotes from two IATA reports, from 2001 and 2007, that show the aviation industry initially supported the concept of emissions trading for aviation, going as far as calling it a "no brainer" that would "maximise gain". However, more recent quotes from the organisation's CEO show that now the EU has led efforts to actually introduce such a scheme, IATA has changed its mind and launched an all-out attack against it.
Editorial by Jos Dings, T&E Director
If you listen carefully through the cacophony surrounding the inclusion of aviation in Europe’s Emissions Trading System, there is progress. Important progress.The verdict of the European Court of Justice cleared the legal hurdle, which even more clearly exposes this fight for what it really is: a political power struggle between the most important economic blocs on the planet.
The Commission has suggested four ways of tackling greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping, and has opened a public consultation. The consultation follows the failure of the IMO to agree measures for ships already in operation by the EU's 31-December deadline.