Welcome to the December edition of the GBTA Europe Advocacy Newsletter designed to keep you up to date with what’s happening in relation to business travel in Brussels, and how GBTA is advocating on your behalf.
 

Summary

GBTA Europe Advocacy Wrap-Up 2022

The Global Business Travel Association has had a very active year advocating for the interests of the business travel sector in Brussels. GBTA has successfully reinstated its strong presence in Brussels in the post-COVID world and reinforced its ties with local stakeholders and policymakers.

GBTA has represented the business travel sector in a total of 16 meetings in 2022, including:

• 6 meetings with the European Commission focusing on reporting of scope 3.6 emissions, multimodality, rail and aviation, i.e. with Walter Goetz, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner for Transport, Adina Valean.
• 2 meetings with Permanent Representations to the Council of the European Union, namely those of Sweden and Spain to the EU, which will hold the rotating presidencies of the Council of the EU from January and July 2023 respectively.
• 1 meeting with a European MEP, Mr Oetjen, who is a prominent figure in aviation and electric mobility issues in the EU.
• 7 meetings with EU stakeholders including Airlines for Europe, Community of European Railway, and the Tourism Manifesto.

GBTA has moreover responded to 4 public consultations, on the initiative to increase the share of rail traffic in the EU, the Multimodal Digital Mobility Services Initiative, the air passenger rights initiative, and on CountEmissionsEU. GBTA was further invited to respond to 2 priority stakeholder consultations on air passenger rights and CountEmissionsEU.

GBTA has also published 2 position papers on some of the priority files in the EU, on CountEmissionsEU and on Sustainable Aviation.

GBTA has further published numerous press releases expressing the view of the sector on main developments in the EU, i.e. on the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive formal approval by the Council of the EU, as well as a podcast on the impact of the extension of the EU ETS on buildings.

Moreover, on the 8th of November, GBTA hosted its first Global Sustainability Summit in Brussels, bringing together nearly 300 delegates from around the world, including sustainability, travel industry, policy leaders and experts, to outline concrete solutions and establish a climate action plan for sustainable global business travel.

For more information on the GBTA actions in the EU, please contact clogan@gbta.org.
 

Click here for the EU jargon buster.

Feature of the Month

ETS Aviation
After a very long round of interinstitutional negotiations between the European Parliament, Commission, and the Council which ended in the early morning of the 7th of December, policymakers reached a provisional agreement on the ETS Aviation, restricting EU carbon tax to flights within Europe.

What is the exact scope of the aviation ETS and how does it link to CORSIA?
EU policymakers, despite strong lobbying from green groups, have decided to restrict the ETS Aviation to intra-EU flights for the time being. Flights travelling to or from outside of the European Economic Area will be covered by the international measure, CORSIA.

The Commission will assess in 2026 whether the CORSIA system is an effective tool to cut global flight emissions. If it is found ineffective, the ETS will then apply to all flights from 2027.

What is happening to free allowances for airlines?
Free allowances to airlines will phase out by 2026. Moreover, to boost the decarbonization of the sector, negotiators approved a “SAF allowances” pricing scheme, which aims to bridge the price gap between conventional jet fuel and sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs). Under this scheme, airlines will be able to deduct 100% of the cost of e-fuels and 70% of advanced biofuels.

The deal also introduced a non-CO2 reporting provision, where airlines will have to disclose their non-CO2 effects, starting in 2025. The non-CO2 effects will include soot and harmful gases such as sulphur and nitrogen oxide, as well as water vapour from jet engines.

Key Points

1. Transport & Sustainability - Developments on the Legislations Relevant to Achieving the EU's Climate Targets

RefuelEU
The Czech Presidency and many Members of the European Parliament had hoped to reach a political agreement before the end of 2022 on RefuelEU, the EU's initiative to introduce a mandate for sustainable aviation fuels. Negotiations failed due to ongoing controversies over green fuel targets. Policymakers will reconvene in the new year to resume negotiations under the Swedish Presidency.

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The CSRD was formally adopted on the 28th of November by the Council.

The responsibility for creating the exact requirements rests with the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group ("EFRAG"), which has been tasked with developing the EU Sustainability Reporting Standards ("ESRS"). EFRAG published in late November its first draft of ESRS, which will now need to be approved by the European Commission by June 2023. View the first draft of requirements here.

2. Other updates

5G and calls allowed in flights
The Commission has updated the implementing decision on spectrum for mobile communications on-board aircrafts, designating certain frequencies for in-flight 5G technology, allowing the airlines to be able to provide the latest 5G technology on their planes. View more here.

French ban on short-haul flights approved by the Commission
French lawmakers voted in 2021 to ban domestic flights on short-haul routes when there is an alternative rail connection of two and a half hours or less. The European Commission has approved France's plan - but it will only affect three routes: Travel between Paris and Bordeaux, Nantes, and Lyon. View more here.

Germany making rail cheaper
Following the successful 9-euro summer ticket for all regional trains throughout Germany, the new heavily discounted nationwide public transport ticket priced at 49 euros per month will be available from April despite the push for an earlier start. More information can be found here.