France bans certain short-haul routes for ecological reasons
France is banning short-haul domestic flights when there is a regular and frequent train option that takes less than two and a half hours, after a 2021 climate law, No. 2021-1104, received the authorization of the European Commission (EC).
Article 145.I of the law prohibits passenger flights "on all air routes within French territory for which there are several direct train connections per day with a duration of less than two and a half hours", according to the report of the decision of the European Union (pdf).
The proposal, which has been welcomed by both the French Greens and the environmental lobbies in Brussels, will directly affect three major air routes between Paris-Orly and Lyon, Nantes and Bordeaux.
Thomas Brooke of Remix News reports that plans to improve rail services and shorten journey times could result in the cancellation of routes from Paris and Rennes to Lyon and Marseilles.
The entry into force of the measure is expected for a few months and should initially last three years, with a review of its effectiveness after two.
In its decision, published on December 2, the European Commission rejected protests from French airports and airline lobbies, who argued that the ban would be against competition laws.
However, he said that "the negative impacts on European citizens and on connectivity of any restrictions on traffic rights must be offset by the availability of alternative, affordable and more sustainable modes of transport".
French Transport Minister Clément Beaune called the move a "major step forward", adding: "I am proud that France is a pioneer in this area".
Karima Delli, French MEP of the Greens, welcomed the approval of the ban by the European Commission, calling it a "victory" for environmentalists, but insisted on the fact that "the threshold must be raised to four hours and, above all, it must include private jets in the ban”.
A threshold of four hours would effectively lead to the abolition of all internal flights in France.
"The French ban on short-haul flights, where there are fast rail connections, is a small step, but it goes in the right direction," said Thomas Gelin, Greenpeace's climate campaign manager for the EU.
Some Green Party politicians want to extend the ban to four-hour train journeys as well, while other European lawmakers hope to extend coverage across the continent with upcoming new train lines, such as the European Union's TEN-T project .
As Naveen Anthrapully of The Epoch Times points out, detractors of the new rule, such as Net Zero Watch, tweeted: “Just one more freedom that Net Zero will take away from us. #CostOfNetZero”.
Perhaps most importantly, the EC noted that the new rule will not have a large impact on the environment because air traffic on the routes has significantly decreased following the pandemic closures. However, the Greens will be able to plant another flag, to the detriment of consumers, but the Macron voters are happy, everyone is happy.
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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-francia-vieta-certe-rotte-a-breve-raggio-per-motivi-ecologici/ on Tue, 06 Dec 2022 21:39:42 +0000.