Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-03-Speech-1-144"
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"en.20060703.18.1-144"2
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"Mr President, I wish to join other colleagues in congratulating Mrs Lucas on her excellent work. Mrs Lucas’s report meets with my agreement to a great extent and hence I will confine myself to making some general comments on the subject matter under discussion.
I think we all agree that the dangerous trend of increasing aviation emissions has to be checked. In my view, the simple, common sense options for a solution offering a reduction in aviation emissions are the following.
First, a general reduction in air travel through encouragement of the use of other, less polluting means of transport, such as rail transport. For this to be achieved, there has to be genuinely fair competition, which historically there has not been. It almost escapes logical explanation why today aviation is still not subject to fuel tax or VAT, and this anachronism surely needs to be corrected. The corresponding air-fare price increases that will result will not only make people use, when possible, alternative, more environmentally-friendly means of transport, but may cause them to limit their travelling altogether, which is not a bad thing.
The second option is the improvement of the fuel efficiency of aviation engines. For this to be achieved, novel engine technology research and development needs to be promoted even more intensively. State assistance to that end should be encouraged most strongly.
The third option is the introduction and promotion of aviation fuels which have less impact on the environment. In this respect, more research should be encouraged into novel fuels such as biofuels.
The fourth option would be the phasing-out of old inefficient aircraft, some of which cause two or three times as much damage to the environment as more modern aircraft. To this end, the airline industry must be given clear incentives for regularly upgrading their aircraft.
Fifthly, there is the option of operating a more efficient service. There has already been mention of aircraft holding circles and running half-empty aircraft. Surely there is scope for improvement in efficiency in that area."@en1
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