the idea of ​​regulation is gaining ground

Coming out of a scorching summer marked by repeated climatic disasters, business aviation has become the symbol of the cynical waste of resources, of a form of climatic mismanagement that is suddenly unbearable. It is first of all Julien Bayou, national secretary of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), who, barely back from vacation, estimated, Sunday August 21 at the microphone of Franceinfo, that the time had come to “ban” private jets on the pretext that a “jet pollutes ten times more than an airplane” line.

In the aftermath, the delegate minister in charge of transport, Clément Beaune, proposed to “regulate” private plane flights. But, with little support from the government, he tried to calm things down, Thursday August 25 on France 2, explaining that ” the subject, [c’est] to open this debate at European level in a responsible manner and precisely by avoiding measures or demagogue ideas such as prohibition”.

While the political class scraps around private jets, environmental defenders hone their numerical arguments and their proposals to limit this activity. This is the case of the NGO Transport & Environment, based in Brussels, which must issue, Monday, August 29, its “recommendations” to hit business aviation in the wallet. Continuing the recommendations of the Citizens’ Convention for the Climate, it wishes to obtain both a tax on fuel used by business aviation and private jet flights.

Read also: Private jets of celebrities: behind the denunciation of pollution, the growing success of “flight tracking”

A bill to this effect is already under discussion in Brussels, as part of the European Union (EU) climate plan, notes Jo Dardenne, director for aviation at Transport & Environment. It aims to blow up the tax exemption enjoyed for fifteen years by kerosene burned by both private jets and commercial aviation. A contribution of 38 euro cents per liter of kerosene is envisaged.

However, there is no question of taxing airliners and private jets in the same way. “If the law is passedsays Jo Dardenne, the tax will apply from 2024 for business aviation. » On the other hand, it will be progressive for commercial flights. It will increase by 10% each year, reaching 38 euro cents per liter on 1^er January 2033. According to the calculations of Transport & Environment, in France alone, the addition of the two taxes could bring in a hundred million euros in the first year.

True rebound

The European Commission has calculated that the twenty-seven EU Member States could recover 2 billion euros from 2025 and even more than 5.4 billion euros per year from 2050 with a tax set at 33 euro cents. euro per litre. The passage of such a law requires “the unanimity of the Member States”, however, recalls Jo Dardenne. It is far from won. According to her, Malta and Cyprus, which are very dependent on air transport, have already expressed their opposition.

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