WRITTEN QUESTION E-0578/00 by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Taxing aviation kerosene.
Date: 2000-02-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: aviation fuel, common transport policy, environmental tax, fuel tax, international negotiations

C 26 E/64

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

26.1.2001

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0569/00, E-0571/00 and E-0572/00

(8 June 2000)

All the members of the Council agree that openness and transparency are an essential element of the
democratic process. As stated in the Preamble to the Treaty on European Union, our common objective is
to create an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken as closely as
possible to the citizens.

The Council has on several occasions reaffirmed its determination to work towards greater transparency,
while at the same time preserving the effectiveness of its decision-making process.

This is shown by the following measures which have been taken:

(cid:129) after each Council meeting a press release is issued which gives information about the decisions
adopted by the Council and indicates the decisions for which statements for the minutes have been
made available to the public. Those statements may be obtained from the Press Office immediately
after the Council meeting. These press releases themselves, as well as the voting results of legislative
acts and statements for the minutes, are also available to the public via the Council website;

(cid:129) a monthly summary of Council acts is available to the public. This summary contains a list of
legislative and non-legislative acts of the Council, including the results of votes, explanations of voting
and statements for the minutes when the Council is acting in its capacity as legislator. It should be
noted that only minutes adopted are official. They can be accessed at the (cid:145)EUDOR(cid:146) website under
(cid:145)Transparency of the Council(cid:146)s legislative activities(cid:146). Information on the Council(cid:146)s legislative transpar-
ency can also be obtained by e-mail at the address: transparency@consilium.eu.int;

(cid:129) the Council also holds open debates on the Presidency(cid:146)s programme on General Affairs and Ecofin

matters. The Council may decide to hold other open debates as well;

(cid:129) public access to Council documents is governed by Council Decision 93/731 of 20 December 1993.
The number of document requests from the public has steadily increased since the adoption of this
Decision. Furthermore, on 1 January 1999 a public register of Council documents was opened on the
Council website, thus enabling our citizens to identify Council documents and apply for them. Since
the opening of this register, the number of applications for Council documents has more than
doubled. Documents relating to cases where the Council acts in its legislative capacity are in principle
released to the public once the Council act is adopted;

(cid:129) since January of this year a list of items on the provisional agendas of meetings of the Council and its
preparatory bodies referring to cases where the Council acts in its legislative capacity, as defined in
Article 6 of its Rules of Procedure, is made available to the public on the Council website. In addition,
the timetable of Council meetings is published on the Council website.

Finally, the Commission has submitted its proposal on public access to European Parliament, Council and
Commission documents in order to implement Article 255 of the Treaty on European Union. This new
legislation will have to be adopted by the European Parliament and the Council according to the
codecision procedure.

(2001/C 26 E/080)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0578/00

by Michl Ebner (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(29 February 2000)

Subject: Taxing aviation kerosene

I refer to my Question E-2169/99 (1) and the answer in which the Commission supports the principle of
taxing aviation kerosene but ascribes the absence of taxation today to the international legal situation.

26.1.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 26 E/65

Should we not be seeking to have the Chicago Convention, which dates back to the first half of the last
century, revised in this respect? In the meantime, flights within Europe should be classified as internal
flights and the proceeds of a kerosene tax used to fund environmental projects.

Is the Commission contemplating bold action along these lines?

(1) OJ C 225 E, 8.8.2000, p. 63.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(2 May 2000)

The conclusions of the Commission in respect of a comprehensive study on the impact of the imposition
of excise duties on kerosene have recently been presented in the communication on air transport and the
environment (1) and the communication on taxation of aircraft fuel (2). The Commission will include the
views of the Parliament on these two documents when developing further policies in this field.

There may well be a need for modernising the basic international law on aviation (Chicago convention)
but this is a much broader issue and taxation is not really an issue in this context.

It is important to recognise that the Chicago convention itself does not pose the major concern regarding
taxation of fuel used in international aviation. Current legal constraints stem from standard clauses in
bilateral air services agreements concluded between signatory states of the Chicago conventions which are
based on a decision by the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that fuel for use
in international air transport shall be exempted from taxation.

The communication on air transport and environment as well as the communication on taxation of
aircraft fuel contain a detailed assessment of the impact of imposition of excise duties on aviation fuel for
intra-Community flights operated by Community air carriers.

(1) COM(1999) 640 final.
(2) COM(2000) 110 final.

(2001/C 26 E/081)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0584/00

by Mark Watts (PSE) to the Commission

(29 February 2000)

Subject: European sustainable transport policy

How can the Commission continue to actively support the Council of Ministers in setting up a strategy for
further integration and reinforcing the integration of environmental issues into transport systems?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(14 April 2000)

The European Council in Helsinki approved the conclusions of the Transport Council of October 1999,
according to which the Commission must come up with a global strategy by June 2001 to integrate the
environment and sustainable mobility into transport policy and implement the appropriate measures.