July 10, 2019

Anna Murray 

The airline flying out of France would be imposed the eco tax after the Minister of Transport of France, Elizabeth Borne announced on July 9. The eco-tax will raise around €180 million from 2020.

After the announcement of the eco-tax, airlines across the Europe all had the same reflection in the stock market. Shares of Air France, Ryanair, and Lufthansa decreased from 3% to 5%.

The tax will be calculated variously depending on the length of the flight, the destination, and the economy or business class. For flights within France and the European, the tax of €1.5 is imposed on economy-class tickets. The tax of €3 is imposed on economy class out of the EU. The maximum tax of €18 is imposed on business class for those flights outside of the EU.

However, environmentalist stated that the eco tax method is kind of impossible to alter the consumer behavior during the proposed level. One of the environmentalists mentioned that the tax of tickets is less than a cup of coffee. It is really difficult for people in France not to travel with the airplane because the economy flight tax will be €15 if people board on the United Kingdom.

In addition to the eco-tax, the French government planned to reduce tax benefits on diesel for trucks. The policy will raise €140 million from 2020.

EU Climate & Energy Policy Coordinator at Can Europe, Klaus Röhrig, stated in the Euronews that even though the policy of French government is a very good step, the policy should increase the tax amount as soon as possible. 

Photo:Webshot.