BERLIN: Seeking to tackle climate change, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s conservatives want to increase taxes on domestic flights and
reduce the cost of long-distance train tickets, a party document seen by
Reuters on Friday showed.
The German government – made up of Merkel’s conservatives, their
Bavarian CSU sister party and the Social Democrats (SPD) – is expected
to present a far-reaching package of climate protection measures on
Sept. 20.
The flight levy for domestic flights currently stands at 7.40 euros ($8.21).
“We want to double this ticket tax for all domestic flights and
triple it for short-haul domestic flights under 400 kilometers,” said a
party document that the board of Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) is
due to review on Monday.
The document, called “Climate-friendly Germany – using innovations as
we head into the future”, showed that the party also wants to make
long-distance rail travel cheaper by reducing the value-added tax levied
on train tickets.
The document said a premium worth several thousand euros should be
introduced to encourage people to scrap old, inefficient heating systems
so that climate targets for buildings can be achieved.
