French proposal for a regulatory framework for private jet flights

France will consult with partners in the European Union on ways to regulate emissions from private jets after French billionaires’ trips to the polluting planes this summer sparked a political row.

Although a jet ban is not on the agenda, French government spokesman Olivier Verand said today that at a time when the government is promoting more moderate energy consumption habits, setting a regulatory framework for private jets would send the message that the same rules they apply to everyone.

Accounts have recently appeared on Twitter that track the flights of the private jets of French billionaires, causing an outcry about the emissions of the rich, at a time when ordinary people are being asked to save on energy consumption.

The “I Fly Bernard” account tracks every move of the jet owned by Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury goods group LVMH and one of the world’s richest people.

“Private jets have a symbolic value,” Olivier Veran told the France Inter network.

“One understands that French people who are cutting their own energy consumption might be offended when some of their fellow citizens use their private jet to get around, even if in most cases the jets are used for business.”

For this reason, Transport Minister Clément Bonn suggested to his European counterparts to look for ways to offset the emissions of private jet flights.

The French minister told Le Parisien newspaper that it would be more effective to take action on the issue at European level, “so that there are the same rules and the greatest possible impact”.

European Union transport ministers will meet in September.

The head of France’s Green party, Julien Bayou, who is in favor of a ban on private jets, told RMC today: “It cannot be accepted that some people are burning up 50 years of consumption of an average Frenchman with a few flights.”