Reports say the European Commission is opposed to a voluntary tax on air travel to fund extra development aid for Africa and will defy a request by EU finance ministers to make such a proposal.
The decision appeared to be the death knell for a levy on airline tickets, which drew criticism from many member states and airlines even when finance ministers agreed on May 14 that it would be only voluntary.
The ministers asked the Commission to prepare a proposal for their June 7 meeting, but a source quoted by Reuters said the analysis of the idea would not be submitted, even though it was ready.
'At least 10 Commissioners disagree with the whole idea of a voluntary airline tax,' the source said.
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso will have to explain the decision, a rare defiance of member governments' wishes, to Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds the EU presidency and will chair the June 7 meeting.
The voluntary airline tax, to be levied on flight tickets sold in the EU, had drawn criticism of Austria, the Netherlands and holiday destinations Italy and Greece. Only a handful of countries said they would definitely implement it.
Its demise would be a fresh blow to Britain's hopes of putting together a substantial package of increased development aid during its presidency of the Group of Eight nations ahead of a UN summit in September on eradicating poverty.
The optional charge on airline tickets was already a step back from the mandatory levy on air travel or kerosene fuel that French President Jacques Chirac originally proposed in January, with backing of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
