A battle horse of elected environmentalists for many years, the fight against private jets, deemed too polluting, is taking on a new political dimension. The controversy which erupted around the displacement of Paris Saint-Germain, on September 3, aboard a private flight between the capital and the city of Nantes, gave ideas to parliamentarians, in particular on the left.
No less than three bills (PPL) have been or will soon be tabled by La France insoumise (LFI) and Europe Ecologie-Les Verts (EELV), in the National Assembly and the Senate. The environmental senators have thus tabled their text – which they call “the PSG law” – from September 12. “It’s true that the bad buzz suffered by PSG has accelerated things. We wanted to submit this text to surf on the news around this practice which shocks the French”confides to franceinfo Thomas Dossus, environmental senator from the Rhône.
This text aims, according to its only article which can be consulted on the Senate website, to “Extend to all private aviation the restrictions applying to scheduled public air passenger transport services”. Understand: prohibit the flights of these jets when this journey is also provided by train by several daily connections lasting less than 2h30, without correspondence.
“The climate law has provided for the abolition of a dozen domestic lines provided by airlines when the journey is less than 2:30. We want to extend this system to private fleets.”
Thomas Dossus, EELV senator from the Rhôneat franceinfo
“It’s not a big constraint. I spoke with the services of the SNCF and they can easily provide TGV trains, even in the evening for the football clubs after their matches”advances Guillaume Gontard, the president of the environmental group in the Senate.
On the side of the National Assembly, the ecologist deputy Julien Bayou had been the first to mention publicly, from mid-August in an interview with Releaseits intention to submit a bill to “ban private jets”.
At the time, “the case” of the PSG had not yet burst, but the proliferation on the social networks of accounts allowing to follow in real time the slightest movements of the private planes of billionaires aroused the indignation of many Internet users. The co-president of the EELV group at the Palais Bourbon (who has since retired) then jumped at the chance to propose a total ban on the private fleet in France.
However, he was preceded by the deputy of Seine-Saint-Denis Thomas Portes, who tabled a bill on behalf of the LFI group to outright ban all private jets on French territory. “This text is submitted in reaction to the government which is asking the French to make efforts on their energy consumption while the ultra-rich continue their usual lifestyle on board their jets”confides to franceinfo the entourage of the “rebellious” deputy.
This bill, which comprises two articles, provides “the ban on the circulation of private jets in French airspace apart from medical evacuation flights, flights concerning national security or private military jets” and “an action plan for the retraining of employees in the sector”. The text also specifies that any abuse will be “punished one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros” and, in the event of a recurrence, up to “five years’ imprisonment and a fine of one million euros”.
Despite the filing of these two texts, Julien Bayou has not given up on his approach. The national secretary of Europe Ecology-Les Verts also plans to submit a bill by the fall. The third on the same subject.
The MP for Paris, who works alongside MEP Karima Delli, prefers to take his time to prepare a less radical text than that of La France insoumise. “Julien Bayou’s team is considering a text that is more ambitious than that of the Senate and more legally sound than that of Thomas Portes”confirms a close friend of the parliamentarian, who did not respond to our requests. “The deputy is currently conducting hearings with specialists in the sector and is consulting a lot to ensure that the text is votable and above all that it advances the subject”adds a relative.
Do these three bills have a chance of being passed by Parliament? Regarding the text tabled by La France insoumise in the National Assembly, the probability is very slim: the total abolition of private jets in France is not unanimous within the hemicycle and even less on the side of the government. . The bill has not been registered in the parliamentary niche of La France insoumise scheduled for November 24.
For the senatorial text, Thomas Dossus believes in it more. The Lyon elected official is betting in particular on the recent outings of the Minister of Transport on the subject. “The hope we have is that Clément Beaune takes an even closer interest in these essential questions against global warming and that he helps us to move the lines”anticipates the senator.
I sent a letter last week to Minister Clément Beaune to tell him that we were at his disposal to move forward with him on this subject.
Guillaume Gontard, president of the EELV group in the Senateat franceinfo
Coldly welcomed in the heart of the summer by the executive, the private jet regulation project carried by the Minister of Transport finally seems to have its small effect within the majority. The PSG controversy and the statements of its coach Christophe Galtier are undoubtedly for many.
In his anti-private jet plan that he recently submitted to the Prime Minister, Clément Beaune proposes several solutions to reduce business aviation activity and accelerate its transition. According to our colleagues from WorldIhe decarbonization of aircraft thanks to sustainable fuels and the limitation of jet traffic in France for connections of less than 2h30 are among the main proposals of the Minister. Positions ultimately quite close to the text proposed by the Senate.