Letter to Hedegaard and Oettinger on bioenergy standards and ETS
Letter to Commissioners Hedegaard and Oettinger on including bioenergy standards in the EU ETS.
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First moves on company cars
The Commission says it is taking the first steps towards tackling the problem of tax subsidies that come through favourable treatment of company cars. Its draft transport white paper identifies company car taxation as a problem, and earlier this month it co-hosted a seminar to discuss the issue.
WTO says US gave illegal aid to Boeing
The World Trade Organisation has ruled that the American aircraft maker Boeing received illegal subsidies from the US government to develop its 787 plane, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said this month.
Time to stop subsidising the most polluting form of transport
Opinion By Jos Dings - T&E Director
Late last month, the World Trade Organisation told the USA and the EU what it thinks of US subsidies to Boeing (story, page 2). Last June, the WTO delivered a similar verdict on EU subsidies to Airbus. Of course both sides claim that the other’s subsidies are worse – we can’t yet check these claims because the WTO report won’t be published for another few weeks, but it is clear that Airbus received more taxpayer-backed ‘sweet’ loans, while Boeing received more direct subsidies, which are generally recognised as very distorting.
Sowing the seeds of smarter transport policy
Opinion by Jos Dings - T&E Director
Did we miss something? Last year, the European Commission didn’t propose a single new legislative measure to clean up transport. To be fair, it has been spending most of its time worrying about the future of the Eurozone. As a result, for T&E this was the sort of year where seeds for smarter transport policy were sown. We’re optimistic that next year could bring a decent crop of positive changes.
Poland to join lorry km charge club
Poland is set to join the club of EU member states that have introduced a distance-based charge for lorries. An electronic charge applicable to all vehicles above 3.5 tonnes (including buses) using national roads is due to come into effect on 1 July 2011, but the price per kilometre has not yet been agreed.
New call for carbon charges on aviation and shipping
A United Nations body set up after last year’s Copenhagen climate change summit has recommended increased taxes on carbon emissions and air and sea transport with the aim of raising $100 billion a year to help poorer nations fight global warming.
Brussels 'pursuing' slow ETS states
Seven EU member states have still not adopted the 2008 directive on aviation entering the Emissions Trading Scheme into their national legislation.
Austria joins air ticket tax club
Austria is to become the latest country to introduce an air ticket tax.
Solutions to end harmful subsidies in EU Budget revealed in new report
A new report launched today by seven green NGOs proposes concrete solutions to put an end to environmentally harmful subsidies within the EU Budget. In this time of austerity, European taxpayers' money is not delivering what it should, such as public goods and the well-being of Europe's citizens. Our key challenges in tackling climate change, biodiversity loss and resource inefficiency need to be prioritised ahead of funding for unnecessary infrastructure projects and the subsidising of intensive agriculture.