The business aviation group joins Dassault’s lawsuit against the EU Commission – AeroTime

The European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) has joined Dassault Aviation’s lawsuit against the EU Commission.

Dassault filed a lawsuit against the Commission on 14 February 2024 over the delegated act on the EU taxonomy, which the EBBA describes as “unprecedented and discriminatory”.

According to the EU, the EU taxonomy is a classification system that “helps direct investments to the activities most needed to achieve the transition to net zero and environmental sustainability”.

However, the EBAA claims that “the current delegated regulation explicitly excludes business aviation but includes commercial aviation”, a decision the association considers “unprecedented and discriminatory”.

According to the EBAA, the exclusion affects the “competitiveness” of European manufacturers and operators of business aircraft as well as the entire value chain in the industry.

The EBBA has expressed concern that the EU taxonomy framework will make financing more efficient and sustainable aircraft in business aviation less attractive.

“The exclusion of business aviation from the EU taxonomy framework is a significant omission that ignores the sector’s essential contributions to sustainability and technological progress,” said Holger Krahmer, Secretary General of the EBAA. “Moreover, the EU Commission does not have the right to discriminate against individual sectors in a legal act without further justification by invoking the EU Treaties. The Commission has committed an arbitrary political act that must be urgently corrected.”

This is not the first time that the EBAA has fought against the exclusion of business aviation from the Delegated Taxonomy Act.

“Despite extensive efforts, including consultations and public participation, the law was passed with this exception,” said an EBBA statement on 8 July 2024.

Dassault Aviation then filed an action for annulment, arguing, among other things, that the exclusion constituted a violation of the principle of equality.

On 4 July 2024, the EBAA legal team filed an intervention in support of Dassault Aviation’s appeal.

“This legal step underlines the EBAA’s commitment to safeguarding the competitiveness and future of European business aircraft manufacturers and operators, as well as the entire value chain of this important industry,” the EBBA added.