Brussels has validated, with some adjustments, the French measure for the abolition of domestic flights when a train journey of less than two and a half hours is possible, according to a decision published Friday, December 2 in Official newspaper of the European Union. This measure, an emblematic provision of the 2021 climate law, will have to be re-examined after three years and will also apply to connecting flights, specifies the text.
The European executive announced in December 2021 to conduct a ” deep analyze “ of this project, contested by the Union of French Airports (UAF) jointly with the European branch of the International Council of Airports (ACI Europe). The latter considered in particular that French law, which has the consequence of prohibiting connections between Paris-Orly and Nantes, Lyon or Bordeaux, introduced discrimination between carriers.
France “pioneer” according to Clément Beaune
Discussions have taken place between the European Commission and the French government to ensure the project’s compliance with European legislation. Paris thus had to waive a derogation that the law provided for connecting journeys, the Commission judging that it introduced a distortion of competition between airlines, in particular those “whose business model is not focused on connecting passengers”.
The European regulation on air services provides that a Member State may, “when there are serious environmental problems (…)limit or deny the exercise of traffic rights, in particular when other modes of transport provide a satisfactory service”. However, it specifies that these measures must be “non-discriminatory”do not provoke “distortion of competition between air carriers”not to be “more restrictive than necessary” and to have “a limited period of validity, not exceeding three years, after which they are re-examined”.
In a press release, the Minister Delegate for Transport, Clément Beaune, welcomed the Commission’s decision, which constitutes “a major step forward in the policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions”. The Brussels decision, he asserts, “will launch new steps in the effective banning of airlines when there is an alternative of less than two and a half hours by train”. “I am proud that France is a pioneer in this area”he adds.