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EUROSTAR SELL-OFF PLANNED
THE GOVERNMENT PLANS TO sell its 40 per cent shareholding in train operator Eurostar as part of a disposal of state-owned assets. Danny Alexander, chief
secretary to the Treasury, revealed that the government was looking to sell around £20 billion of financial and corporate assets in the next six years as part of a new £375 billion national infrastructure plan. This sets out the
government’s investment plans
for energy, transport, flood defence, waste, water and communications infrastructure to 2030 and beyond. The Treasury said that one of the aims was to “double the target for the sale of corporate and financial assets from £10 billion to £20 billion between 2014 and 2020, which could include the government’s shareholding in Eurostar”. Eurostar, which started
operating in 1994, is currently
owned by the UK government’s London and Continental Railways (LCR), as well as the French rail firm SNCF (55 per cent) and Belgium’s SNCB (5 per cent). Alexander also announced
a range of new infrastructure projects, which include spending a further £50 million on a full redevelopment of the railway station at Gatwick airport. “Underground, overground, onshore, offshore, wired or
wireless, tarmac or train track,” said Alexander, “you name it, we’re building it right now. “This is great news for the
people of the UK because, after years of neglect, the UK’s energy, road, rail, flood defence, communications and water infrastructure needs renewal. “It will boost the UK economy,
creating jobs and making it easier to do business. It will also make the UK a better place to live for everyone who calls it their home.”
AIRLINES EMISSIONS TRADING ROW SET TO FLARE UP AGAIN
US POLITICIANS ARE CALLING for the country’s airlines to be protected from being charged for their carbon emissions by the European Union (EU).
The leaders of the House
of Representatives’ transport committee have written to US transport secretary Anthony Foxx asking him to ensure that US-based airlines are not charged for their emissions on flights to Europe.
The EU is planning to continue with a reduced emissions trading scheme (ETS) from next year, which would charge all carriers for their emissions over EU airspace. This decision came despite an agreement reached by the International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) in October 2013 to set up a global emissions trading scheme for aviation from 2020. The ETS Prohibition Act, signed in 2012, makes it illegal for US airlines to comply with EU ETS.
EU ETS is already being applied to flights within the European Economic Area. The EU’s original plan, which was to charge airlines for their entire journeys to and from Europe, sparked fears of a trade war in 2012 with nations such as the US, China, Russia and India. This plan could still be reinstated this year unless the European Parliament and Council approve the new amendment on ETS, which the EC wants to be sanctioned by March.
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