site.btaChairman of Parliamentary Tourism Committee Warns against Distortion of Market Principles of Free Competition in Aviation Sector during Conference in France

The Chairman of the parliamentary Tourism Committee of the Bulgarian National Assembly, Ilin Dimitrov, said during an event in France held within the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, that a danger exists of distorting the market principles of free competition in the aviation sector which in turn poses a risk for the tourist industry in the EU, the parliamentary Tourism Committee said on Tuesday. 

Dimitrov spoke at the third thematic conference of the parliamentary component of the French EU Presidency which was held on 20 and 21 March in the Loire Valley and which was devoted to European policies on behalf of citizens: the Common Agricultural Policy, the Green Deal and the regional funds. 

In his address to the participants in the conference Dimitrov urged for "blocking" the price of kerosene and bio fuels which are expected to double. 

Projections show that on account of the planned double increase of CO2 emission allowance prices and a requirement for more bio-fuels in the aviation fuel, air fares will double in the next couple of years which will lead to bankruptcies of many air carriers. The growing costs within the EU will make holiday and leisure travels to non-EU destinations more attractive. The Fit for 55 package of the European Commission is an ambitious plan for climate action but is also is a package of incentives for air carriers and tourist destinations outside Europe which do not adhere to the same climate or social standards of the EU. 

Dimitrov urged for urgent legal amendments to avert this scenario. These include ensuring that the quota for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is financed by all airlines with services outside the EU, for example through a SAF tax; equal treatment of holiday travels irrespective of whether their end destination is a EU member state, achieved by means of free ETS allowances for tourist trips or by means of traffic rights agreements; opting out of the introduction of a kerosene tax as the latter could be seen as a package of economic incentives to autocratic countries who do not adhere yo the EU climate and social standards. 

Dimitrov said that now is the time to object to these measures and urge for a broad discussion over the several months before the expected passage of a European directive in June.