The PSOE and Sumar have reached an agreement in Congress to reduce domestic flights on routes that have a rail alternative lasting less than two and a half hours and as long as they are not connected to airports that link with international routes.
This is a transactional amendment that the Government partners have agreed upon in the Congressional Ecological Transition Commission when debating a non-law proposal from Sumar.
In the text, to which Europa Press has had access, the parliamentary groups of PSOE and Sumar urge the Government to “promote the reduction of domestic flights on those routes in which there is a rail alternative with a duration of less than 2.5 hours , except in cases of connection with hub airports that link with international routes”.
The initial wording of those by Yolanda Díaz urged to study this reduction in flights, while the agreed text already urges the Government to undertake it. But at the same time it restricts the affected flights, since Sumar initially proposed removing flights with a train alternative of up to three hours and now it remains at two and a half hours.
On the other hand, the text agreed between PSOE and Sumar asks to analyze the directive that is being prepared within the European Commission on the taxation of energy products and to analyze the European initiatives related to the restriction of private jet flights.
THE MEASURE CANNOT NEGATIVELY AFFECT TOURISM
The agreement has come about after the PSOE has warned Sumar that the restriction on short flights signed in the Government agreement cannot be carried out if it negatively affects tourism and if it is not guaranteed that there is a railway network. “that is up to par.”
The PSOE deputy for Barcelona, ??Arnau Ramírez, has defended progress in promoting the use of means of transport that are less polluting, but has made it clear that his training will do “nothing” that affects tourism or the “conditions of “insularity” of Spanish tourist destinations such as the Balearic Islands or the Canary Islands, which live “with great dependence” on air transport.
For her part, the En Comú Podem deputy integrated into Sumar, Júlia Boada, has stressed the need to decarbonize the economy “in a planned manner” and through a green transition that has to be “fair.” To this end, the deputy has urged “to end regulatory advantages” in the aviation sector, especially with kerosene.
“It is the only fossil fuel, apart from heavy maritime oil, that is exempt from tax. It doesn’t seem very fair to me,” Boada denounced.
THE PP SAYS THAT IT WOULD ONLY REDUCE EMISSIONS BY 0.06%
Both Vox and the PP have advanced their rejection of the measure. On the side of the Popular Group, Guillermo Mariscal has explained that he considers the initiative “ineffective” because it would only mean a 0.06% reduction in emissions, according to data from the College of Aeronautical Engineers.
Mariscal has also criticized Sumar for presenting the initiative without calculating the economic impact of the measure and has warned that “it is outrageous” to propose a tax on kerosene, since it could mean a reduction of 4.5 million tourists per year.
Finally, Junts has urged that the reduction in flights be done “by analyzing the offer and the comparative quality of the existing railway offer and the offer necessary to promote the reduction.” The independentists also want to promote the unblocking of the ‘Single European Sky’ initiative as a measure with a “great impact” in reducing emissions from commercial aviation.
