Civil Aviation: the blacklist – environment or Tariff barrier?

By on April 16, 2010

The European Commission has updated the list of banned airliners in the European Union sky. All airlines from 17 countries are in the blacklist: Angola, Benin, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gabon (with the exception of three carriers), Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia (except for 4 carriers), Kazakhstan (with the exception of one carrier), the Kyrgyz Republic, Liberia, Philippines, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Swaziland and Zambia. The strong African presence in this list is obviously disappointing the African Airlines Association (AFRAA), which speaks of «unilateral and unjust” European Union decision.
The old continent, accuses the African companies of a strong gas emission propensity. “It is well known that the 90 % of the black list, are African airliners, and that is detrimental to our companies,” deplore the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) officials. And up to the first of January 2012, the African companies will be forced to pay the famous “carbon-tax” for flying in the European airspace. If this tax is really inspired from and corresponds to an environmental concern, it will be very difficult to clear it from the criticism of its detractors, who see it as a simple non-tariff barrier…

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