The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

EU Commission approves French ban on short

2022-12-02T16:20:06.719Z


France has banned ultra-short-haul flights, and the EU Commission is now giving the green light for the climate protection measure. However, the measure does not go far enough for environmentalists.


Enlarge image

Machine approaching Paris Orly Airport

Photo: Benoit Tessier / REUTERS

The European Commission has approved the French ban on ultra-short-haul flights and at the same time extended it to the connecting flights previously exempted from it.

It concerns connections that can be reached by train in less than two and a half hours.

This measure will initially apply for three years, according to the text published on Friday in the Official Journal of the EU.

The short-haul flight ban was one of 149 proposals from a Citizens' Climate Council in 2020, almost all of which President Emmanuel Macron originally wanted to adopt.

The associations of French and European airports had argued that this rule would lead to a distortion of competition.

The Commission had started negotiations with France to check compatibility with European law.

In fact, there is a hitherto unused clause in European law that allows member states to ban transport if there are serious environmental concerns.

However, these are limited to three years.

Greenpeace criticism

The EU Commission approved the French decision, but instructed France to extend the ban to connecting flights.

Otherwise, airlines that do not offer connecting flights would be disadvantaged.

One year before the deadline, France must submit a progress report.

The ban affects flights between Paris Orly and Nantes, Bordeaux and Lyon.

Minister of Transport Clément Beaune welcomed the decision and spoke of "great progress in the policy to reduce greenhouse gases".

According to Greenpeace, the ban does not go far enough in view of the climate crisis.

The environmental organization emphasized that only three of the more than 100 domestic connections were affected by the ban.

Greenpeace is calling for a ban on all short-haul flights that have train connections lasting less than six hours.

beb/afp

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2022-12-02

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.