The European Commission has asked the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) to suggest alternatives to the EU Finance Ministers` Poverty Tax…
The European Commission has asked the European Regions Airline Association (ERA) to suggest alternatives to the EU Finance Ministers` Poverty Tax on air tickets, which Commissioners are resisting.
In wide-ranging talks in Brussels today with EC Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot, ERA Board Members pointed out that there were many methods in which air transport could assist in providing aid to Africa without the imposition of an unfair tax on air travellers.
These could include using European air transport resources and know-how to stimulate economic growth in Africa.
The ERA delegation, which included the Association`s President Antonis Simigdalas of Aegean Airlines and Director General Mike Ambrose, was asked by the Commission to provide an urgent paper on the subject – one of two papers requested, the other dealing with the establishment of a European Transport Safety Board.
While Commissioners have fundamental objections to the Poverty Tax, EU Finance Ministers are continuing to press for a legislative proposal.
Said Mike Ambrose: If the EU`s Finance Ministers had given a little more thought and had shown a lot more understanding of air transport`s unique characteristics, they would have produced a more constructive proposal.
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