SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, March 10 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Canary Islands tourist employers Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs of Las Palmas (FEHT Las Palmas); the Hotel and Non-Hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro, Ashotel; The Association of Tourist Entrepreneurs of Fuerteventura (Asofuer) and the Tourist Federation of Lanzarote (FTL) have demanded this Friday a common institutional front to obtain total exemption for the Canary Islands in the new regulatory framework on payment of emission rights for flights in the European airspace.
Thus, they point out that this will require a major negotiating action by the Canary Islands and central governments in those decision-making centers of the European Union with responsibilities in regulatory matters, such as the European Council, the Commission and the European Parliament.
This initiative, the employers add, must be based on the arguments that the Canary Islands have raised regarding environmental taxation for aviation, because the archipelago requires “specific measures” in this area, both because of its status as an Ultraperipheral Region (RUP) and because of the relevance of the tourism sector in the productive fabric of the islands, also based on efficient connectivity with its main source markets, the countries of the European continent.
The business associations have seen their proposal endorsed in favor of an exemption for the islands after participating this week in the meeting organized by the Government of the Canary Islands with the director of Regional Policy responsible for the ORs in the European Commission, Monika Hencsey, a forum that He addressed, among other issues, the future community regulation on the payment of CO2 emission rights.
In this regard, the representatives of the sector agreed with the decarbonisation objectives set out in the EU as a whole, which the Canary Islands address with their own strategies in their energy model.
At the same time, the tourist employers consider that a decision by the European Union cannot specifically harm a “sensitive territory” of the EU itself which, as is the case of the Canary Islands, has air connectivity as a strategic element for its economic model. , due to the weight of its tourism sector and the absence of alternatives to air transport, collects a joint statement.
Hence, they point out, that the exemption already obtained for inter-island and national flights is not “sufficient”, as highlighted by the president of the Canary Islands, Ángel Víctor Torres, during the course of said meeting, “it is necessary to negotiate to achieve the exemption total”.
UNIT OF ACTION
Given the difficulty of the company, the employers launch a call for joint action by the Canary Islands administrations, the Spanish Government and the representatives of Spain in the European Parliament, “because the arguments of the Canary Islands are very solid” and also “they are comparable”, for example, with those expressed by some European governments that have urged a reflection on the advisability of prohibiting the sale of combustion vehicles in the EU from the year 2035.
Furthermore, they detail that in the case of the Canary Islands it is necessary that any implementation of tax measures related to aviation fuel be carried out with sufficient caution to guarantee the competitiveness of tourism on the islands with respect to other comparable destinations that, because they are not part of the of the European Union, will not be forced to apply said tax measures.
For this reason, and as long as the stable supply and affordable prices of the new non-polluting fuels in the aviation sector is not guaranteed, they point out that “the necessary measure for the Canary Islands is the total exemption in the payment of CO2 emission rights in the flights”.
It must be taken into account, add the tourist employers, that the Canary Islands, as a medium-distance destination, cannot be considered as an “inefficient” territory in the relationship between polluting emissions and the average stay of travelers.
Along these lines, they point out that European tourists who visit the islands spend an average of more than nine days on the islands, which “clearly” distances the archipelago from other destinations that also make intensive use of the plane and record much shorter stays and, therefore, less efficient in environmental terms.
DECARBONIZATION WITH TIME MARGIN
This is “another argument” in defense of an exemption that, as the director general of the European Commission admitted at the meeting held this week, would offer the Canary Islands the opportunity to face the decarbonization of the aviation sector with enough time. to guarantee the competitiveness of the flights that currently support tourism on the islands, they comment.
For the representatives of the tourism employers, the general philosophy that supports the application of payment for greenhouse gas emission rights is a concept that the Canary Islands tourism sector “supports and supports, but it must also incorporate corrective measures that make possible a just transition in the use of fossil fuels”.
In his opinion, “the case of the archipelago is a very clear example in this regard for a double reason, because of its outermost condition and because of the relevance of the tourism sector in its economic model, an essential factor for its present and future collective prosperity, as stated by employers, stressing that the entry into force of the framework approved in December 2022 by the EU trialogue –European Council, European Commission and European Parliament– is insufficient for the Canary Islands for not including an exemption in the payment of rights for all flights between European airspace and the islands”.
