February 8th, 2018 – Today the Dutch government released a paper suggesting an EU-wide passenger levy on flights. It suggests the next EU Commission should work on a Europe-wide tax on commercial flights.

Fred Roeder, Managing Director of the Consumer Choice Center (CCC), is alarmed by this move limiting passenger choice and burdening consumers from all over the EU with a new tax. 

“The Netherlands seem to flip-flop on whether consumers should be burdened with a passenger departure tax or not. They used to tax passengers, got rid of the tax, and now plan to reintroduce one again. Learning from the effects of having a passenger tax while neighbouring countries don’t have one, the Dutch government must have come to the conclusion that all European passengers should be burdened with this tax. Thus Dutch passengers would not be able to cheaper and levy-free flights in Belgium or Luxembourg,” said Roeder.

“This shows that Dutch policymakers are aware that this is a bad policy and hurts passengers. No Eastern European EU Member State has such a tax yet. Introducing it would especially hurt the mobility of economic commuters and young Europeans travelling from Eastern Europe to the rest of the continent. “Right now we see a concentration of a few carriers in the market, foreign carriers aren’t allowed to offer inner-European routes due to cabotage rules, and at the same time, policymakers want to squeeze out more money from passengers. Instead of burdening European air passengers with more taxes we should rather open up European skies to further competition from the world,” concluded Roeder. 

Contact:
Fred Roeder
Managing DirectorConsumer Choice Center
fred@consumerchoicecenter.org

***CCC Managing Director Fred Roeder is available to speak with accredited media on consumer regulations and consumer choice issues.

Please send media inquiries HERE.***

The CCC represents consumers in over 100 countries across the globe. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Ottawa, Washington, Brussels, Geneva and other hotspots of regulation and inform and activate consumers to fight for #ConsumerChoice. Learn more at consumerchoicecenter.org.

Read original press release here: https://consumerchoicecenter.org/statements/#/publication/5c5dc5f5ee172800049a7ca8/5aa837df2542970e001981f6?&sh=false