The agreement in the EU to postpone, at least until 2035, the introduction of a new kerosene tax that uses andl maritime and air transport has given this Tuesday a new step forwardafter a debate between EU countries in which they have decided advance on the last text prepared by the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU that proposes maintain the ‘status quo’ for 10 years and then review the need to tax this fuel, also in light of the development of alternative sustainable fuels. Spain has been one of the countries that has shown itself willing to conclude an agreement that, at least for the moment, frees the airline sector from a new tax against which airlines reject and which, they warn, will end up having an impact on the price of tickets.
The debate held on this issue by the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) deals, in more general terms, with the review of the energy tax directive. In the case of the new kerosene tax It is one of the measures that appear among the directives of the European Green Deal, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet the EU’s decarbonization commitments.
From the beginning, its introduction has been highly discussed by the two transport sectors to which it would be applied. In the case of air, the Airlines Association (ALA), warns that it could cause 4.5 million fewer tourists will arrive in Spainwho would opt for other non-EU destinations to which it did not apply and has been asking the Government to veto and defend a unanimous veto between the 27 countries of the EU so that it does not go ahead.
Predictably, this it won’t be the way in which, at least temporarily, the new kerosene rate will remain inactive. In this Monday’s Ecofin and despite the ““lament” from France, Belgium or Sweden for one “unambitious” proposalthe Twenty-seven have agreed keep working based on a proposal that proposes maintaining the ‘status quo’, which involves the non-application of tax, and review this decision in 2035.
“The Presidency [húngara] considered that the most viable option was keep the text of the DFE in force regarding aviation and water navigation, with the addition of a review clause in 2035″, says the text about which, with more or less conviction, this Monday it was agreed to continue seeking an agreement on taxation in these two sectors. The Presidency of the Council of the EU takes into account that this has been one of the “issues that have generated more division during negotiations”with “divergent opinions” and countries pointing out that “the level of ambition has decreased considerably”, but adds that with this kind of 10-year extension perhaps the tax issue for aviation and maritime transport “could be considerably different as regards to the availability of sustainable alternative fuels”.
The Spanish representative in this debate, the Secretary General of the Treasury, Paula Contherecalled that Spain has supported “from the beginning” the entire package for the decarbonization of the European Commission and has also shown itself “open to finding the necessary flexibility to adjust specific circumstances to reach an agreement.” Without excluding further adjustments to the text, it has accepted the Hungarian proposal, adding that the exemption from taxation of air and maritime transport “does not hinder the main objective” of the Taxation Directive of which it is part of “aligning the taxation of energy products with the objective of decarbonizing the economy in 2050”.
On the contrary, the European Commission has maintained the bases of the directive that it prepared and presented to the EU governments and has considered that the way in which the agreement and the tax exemption for kerosene that it proposes seem possible reduces “ambition” to your proposal. “It had more ambition to meet the decarbonization objectives,” said the Dutch Climate Commissioner. Wopke Hoekstra, who has warned that “if a sector does less [por reducir emisiones]others will have to do more.
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