On December 2, the European Commission backed French government efforts to temporarily ban internal flights between destinations that are less than a 150-minute train journey apart.
The Commission said in its December 2 statement that it "believes that France is entitled to consider that a serious environmental problem exists in the situation at issue, which includes the urgent need to reduce GHG [greenhouse gas] emissions".
The Commission opined that the French law, which would halt the flights for three years, "could be justified under Article 20(1) of the Regulation provided it is non-discriminatory, does not distort competition between air carriers, is not more restrictive than necessary to relieve the problem, and has a limited period of validity not exceeding three years, after which it should be reviewed".
The Commission, the executive arm of the European Union, said the French government had informed it "of its intention to introduce a temporary limitation subject to conditions on the exercise of traffic rights due to serious environmental problems" but added that it had "received complaints from airports and airlines that the French law would be "ineffective and disproportionate to the intended objective, that it would discriminate between air carriers and that its duration would not be limited in time".
A European Air Services Regulation article states that a member state can "limit or refuse the exercise of traffic rights, in particular where other modes of transport provide a satisfactory service”, when "there are serious environmental problems […] ".
France's high-speed rail services mean shorter train travel times are possible compared to other countries in the EU. The Commission said in its statement that "the French authorities anticipate that people will primarily switch to high speed train rather than to coaches or cars", citing "available data" that "seem to point to a historical preference for rail connections amongst the people who use air connections".