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Global Business Travel Association

GBTA

GBTA Europe represents corporate travel buyers and meetings professionals in European policy discussions.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Anna Panagopoulou (Cabinet of Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas) and Grayling

6 Nov 2025 · EU Sustainable Business Travel

Meeting with Moumen Hamdouch (Head of Unit Mobility and Transport)

4 Nov 2025 · Ticketing initiative

Meeting with Daniel Attard (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

4 Nov 2025 · Sustainable Tourism and business travel

Meeting with Elisabeth Kotthaus (Head of Unit Mobility and Transport)

3 Nov 2025 · Exchange of views on GBTA’s position on the ongoing negotiations on passenger rights and the work on the targeted revision of Regulation (EU) 2021/782 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations.

Meeting with Magnus Brunner (Commissioner) and

3 Nov 2025 · Exchange of views on the Entry-Exit System, European Travel Information and Authorisation System, and travel digitalisation.

Response to EU tourism strategy

10 Sept 2025

GBTA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Commissions consultation on the Sustainable Tourism Strategy. Business travel is a 400 billion industry in Europe alone, playing a critical role for the European economy. However, it also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, making it a key focus area for corporate sustainability efforts. In developing the new Sustainable Tourism Strategy, we encourage the Commission to consider the fact that the business travel sector, which accounts for about 30% of all travel in Europe, can help lead the sustainability transition for the full travel and tourism ecosystem. As corporate travel is often managed by organisations, it provides an opportunity for the sector to be the tip of the spear in implementing travel policies that promote investments in sustainable travel options. Travel managers can leverage their purchasing power for change and are already doing so by incorporating sustainability requirements in their travel procurement. However, to maximise the sectors potential in driving sustainable practices, the sector needs predictable and coherent regulations to unlock private investments and scale sustainable travel and tourism models. Specifically, GBTA has long supported EU plans to decarbonise aviation, welcoming the mandates for the gradual take-up of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) introduced by RefuelEU. Nevertheless, more must be done to increase SAF production and availability in Europe. The upcoming Sustainable Transport Investment Plan offers an opportunity to raise the ambition in this regard. In parallel, business travellers wish to partner with the EU to promote the shift to rail. This move to a less-polluting transport option requires further incentives and prioritisation by governments across Europe to improve cross-border rail experiences. GBTA trusts that the new High-speed Rail Plan will make rail more attractive for business travellers. Furthermore, for Europe to achieve a more sustainable and efficient travel system, it needs a modern and competitive ticket distribution system that supports multimodal options. Business travel very often involves intermediaries who require transparency from travel providers to offer independent comparison and booking options. The European Commission should proceed with regulations to increase the offer of multimodal trips in Europe. This would make tickets more accessible through convenient online booking channels, offering passengers more choice and making business travellers more likely to consider sustainable yet efficient options when booking their trips. Finally, the European Commission, together with the European Parliament and Council should work towards a prompt agreement on CountEmissionsEU. For the business travel industry to reduce its carbon footprint, business travellers need accurate and comparable emissions data on travel options. This proposal would be a significant step towards achieving this, ensuring that a common emissions calculation methodology is in place and that the right data is provided, paving the way for effective decarbonisation of the business travel sector; which is currently hindered by fragmented methodologies. For its part, the sector is making substantial efforts to reduce its carbon footprint: The GBTA Foundation recently developed a Sustainable Business Travel Transition Pathway (attached), aimed at supporting organisations in starting, advancing and accelerating their sustainable travel practices. In conclusion, GBTA believes that by promoting collaboration between the public and private sectors, the EU can accelerate the transition to sustainable business travel. The recommendations provided here will help ensure that the Sustainable Tourism Strategy aligns with the needs of the business travel sector and creates a regulatory framework that fosters competitiveness, investment, innovation, and decarbonisation. We look forward to continuing dialogue on this matter.
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Response to Targeted revision of Regulation (EU) 2021/782 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations

10 Sept 2025

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions consultation regarding the revision of the Rail Passenger Rights Regulation, aimed at improving the passenger experience in cross-border, long-distance and regional rail travel. Business travel is a 400 billion industry in Europe alone, playing a critical role for the European economy. However, it also contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, making it a key focus area for corporate sustainability efforts. Because of this, GBTA has been making substantial efforts to support the sector in reducing its carbon footprint and shifting towards more sustainable practices. The GBTA Foundation recently developed a Sustainable Business Travel Transition Pathway (attached), aimed at supporting organisations in starting, advancing and accelerating their sustainable travel practices. In this context, rail plays an essential role as a substantially less polluting mode of transport. In order to reduce their carbon footprint, business travellers wish to partner with the EU to facilitate a wider use of rail in the sector. While business travellers are increasingly considering carbon emissions in travel decisions (according to the GBTAs 2024 Business Travel Index, 42% of Europe-based business travellers say they always or often think about carbon emissions when deciding whether to travel for work in the first place), unclear enforcement of passenger rights in rail remains a stumbling block for a wider use of rail as a business travel mode. Specifically, business travellers priority is a guarantee of journey continuation when one of the legs of their trip is cancelled or delayed. Business travellers generally aim to arrive to a destination on time for a specific event or meeting so an excessive delay would negate the purpose of the trip as a whole. GBTA agrees with the problem identified by the Commission in its call for evidence: the low availability of through-tickets (single tickets that cover connecting services with full passenger rights) makes it more difficult for business travellers to consider rail as a viable option, especially for long-distance and cross-border trips. GBTA therefore calls for the Commission to ensure that the rights of EU rail passengers are protected throughout their journeys, regardless of whether the trip involves one or several railway undertakings and whether tickets are purchased as part of a single transaction from a ticket platform or directly from the rail operator. In addition, legislation should also ensure that travellers are compensated if they miss a connection between services operated by different rail operators, due to a delay or cancellation on an earlier connection. In short, GBTA asks for the Commission to ensure rail travel in the EU offers a smoother experience for its passengers, allowing for better protection of passengers when things do not go as planned. The enhanced protection and predictability will lead to a wider use of rail in business travel, substantially reducing the sectors carbon footprint.
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Global Business Travel Association urges tax breaks for electric fleets

8 Sept 2025
Topic — The EU is consulting on setting minimum zero-emission requirements for corporate vehicle fleets.
Message — GBTA requests tax benefits for companies to purchase or lease electric vehicles. They also call for incentives for charging infrastructure and support for improved battery technology.123
Why — Tax benefits and infrastructure support would reduce leasing costs and operational barriers for businesses.45
Impact — Fossil fuel vehicle providers lose their competitive edge against subsidized electric fleet alternatives.6
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Meeting with Nikolina Brnjac (Member of the European Parliament)

3 Jun 2025 · GBTA’s Policy Priorities for 2024–2029

Meeting with Elena Nevado Del Campo (Member of the European Parliament)

7 May 2025 · Priorities

Meeting with Gosia Pearson (Cabinet of Commissioner Magnus Brunner)

20 Mar 2025 · Exchange of views on the Entry-Exit System (EES), European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), and the visa digitalisation legislation

Meeting with Filippo Terruso (Cabinet of Commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas) and World Travel and Tourism Council and Travalyst Ltd

19 Mar 2025 · Sustainability in particular for hospitality and travelling; vocational training for SMEs in he tourism sector (for green transition); business travel sector. Presentation of the main activities of the stakeholders.

GBTA urges EU to digitalize travel and integrate multimodal ticketing

31 Jan 2025
Topic — The strategy seeks to further develop the single market for services and goods.
Message — GBTA calls for digital travel credentials and a single booking regulation for rail. They also seek incentives for sustainable aviation fuel and a harmonised emissions reporting framework.123
Why — Digitised procedures and integrated ticketing would reduce administrative burdens and lower cross-border travel costs.4
Impact — National governments would lose the autonomy to impose independent travel restrictions during future emergencies.5
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Response to Digitalisation of travel documents and facilitation of travel

22 Nov 2024

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) welcomes the new legislative proposals released by the European Commission to digitalise passports and ID cards across the EU with the aim of speeding up border controls and ensuring more efficient and secure travel. This initiative has been long awaited by the business travel community as it will allow for seamless cross-border travel and passenger clearance while preventing potential risks such as identity fraud. GBTA hopes the newly elected European Parliament and EU Member States will prioritise the approval of these proposals as they represent a crucial opportunity for the EUs travel sector to become more secure and efficient. GBTA applauds the fact that the technical specifications for digital travel credentials will be aligned with the global ecosystem: travel is a fundamentally global sector, and legislation should always take this into consideration. We therefore welcome the Commissions approach of aligning with the International Civil Aviation Organizations (ICAO) digital travel credential standard. In doing so, all EU and non-EU citizens with a biometric passport or EU identity card will be eligible to use the EU Digital Travel' app when travelling to or from the Schengen Area. This will be a boon to all travellers transiting through Europe. We also support the opt-in nature of the digital travel credentials, whereby Member States will offer citizens the option of receiving them when they apply for a new physical identity card but will still be able to keep using their physical documents if they so prefer. Data privacy is also critical, and we appreciate the Commissions efforts to guarantee the privacy of EU travellers, building user confidence and acceptance. The fact that the digital documents will contain the same data that is already included in the identity card that they are based on (except the fingerprints) will be reassuring for travellers. We ask Parliament and Council to ensure the highest level of protection for personal data is guaranteed in the final legislative text. Finally, we welcome the Commissions efforts to make digital documents accessible to everyone. The fact that they will be free of charge and offered as an option during the issuance of physical ID cards is a positive step. We ask Parliament and Council to ensure that the information campaign that the Commission and eu-LISA will undertake is extensive enough to accurately inform the public of this new initiative to ensure broad uptake by citizens. GBTA calls on Member States and the European Parliament to make these proposals a priority of their legislative work in the coming months to ensure the implementation of digital travel documents can start as soon as possible, ensuring seamless cross-border travel and passenger clearance, robust data privacy, and universal access to interoperable digital systems for all travellers.
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Meeting with Sérgio Gonçalves (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2024 · Priorities for this mandate

Meeting with Jens Gieseke (Member of the European Parliament)

13 Nov 2024 · Austausch zu EU-Luftfahrtpolitik

Meeting with Magda Kopczynska (Director-General Mobility and Transport)

11 Nov 2024 · • Presentation of GBTA • FEL • Multimodal travel integration and single-ticket solutions

Meeting with Rosa Serrano Sierra (Member of the European Parliament)

11 Nov 2024 · Priorities for European Commission 2024-2029

Global Business Travel Association urges transparent flight emission labels

22 Oct 2024
Topic — This consultation covers a new voluntary labeling scheme for flight emissions.
Message — The group demands that travel managers and booking platforms access official emissions data. They also advocate for flexibility to align EU labels with global standards.12
Why — Standardized data reduces reporting burdens and builds trust in sustainable bookings.34
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Global Business Travel Association seeks clarity on aviation emissions reporting

19 Jul 2024
Topic — This consultation updates rules for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas aviation emissions.
Message — The organization supports reporting non-CO2 effects but insists on more research before extending regulations. They argue that current quantification methods have a low degree of confidence.12
Why — This ensures travel buyers can provide accurate environmental data to their sustainability teams.3
Impact — Climate campaigners lose the immediate inclusion of all aviation emissions in the market.4
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Meeting with Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Member of the European Parliament) and Grayling

9 Apr 2024 · Handing over the GBTA's Navigator Award

GBTA urges adoption of automated flight refund systems

19 Jan 2024
Topic — European Commission review of passenger rights to improve reimbursement and multimodal travel protections.
Message — The group advocates for fully automated electronic refunds to make the process seamless. They support requiring intermediaries to share passenger data with airlines and demand better coordination. Finally, they call for a robust proposal on multimodal digital mobility services.123
Why — Automated systems would reduce administrative burdens for travellers and ensure faster ticket cash recovery.45
Impact — Airlines and intermediaries face higher costs from stricter compliance monitoring and new data-sharing requirements.6
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Meeting with Pablo Fabregas Martinez (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean), Rachel Smit (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean) and Grayling

9 Nov 2023 · Transport sustainability and air passenger rights

Meeting with Jakop G. Dalunde (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Nov 2023 · Transport Sustainability

Response to Count your transport emissions: CountEmissions EU

24 Oct 2023

GBTA Welcomes EU Push for Harmonised Emissions Measurement As the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) we support the European Commission's proposal, CountEmissionsEU, as a way to harmonise how emissions are calculated across all modes of transport. Consistent and accurate measurement of transport emissions is critical to help business travellers make informed travel decisions and track sustainability improvements. This initiative marks an important milestone towards a transparent, trustworthy measurement framework to promote more sustainable choices and ultimately, low-carbon business travel. Specifically, GBTA supports the following aspects of the proposal: 1. Inclusion of all modes of transport: The framework's consideration of all modes of transport, including rail, road, and air, is critical to enable comparisons and display of emissions for journeys connecting air to rail. 2. The facilitation of greener travel choices: By providing a clear and consistent measure of emissions across all forms of transport, the framework helps business travellers make informed and sustainable choices when booking travel services. 3. Push for global standardisation: The proposal promotes an internationally recognised standard for emission calculations, namely ISO 14083:2023, paving the way for broader adoption of sustainable practices on a global scale. 4. Alignment with EU Standards and Aviation Labelling: This initiative works hand in hand with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) by enriching transport emissions data for corporate sustainability reports. Moreover, we particularly applaud the effort to ensure consistency between CountEmissionsEU and the dedicated environmental label for flights under the ReFuelEU Aviation initiative. The necessity for a standardised, international approach to calculate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from travel, is underscored by findings from the recently released report, "The State of Climate Action in Business Travel - Global Industry Barometer 2023" (attached). The report shows that today, 64% of corporate travel managers are tracking emissions from their business travel programs (compared to 55% in 2022), and another 15% are planning to do so. These corporate travel managers are, however, finding it difficult to track and report emissions data from employees travels, as there are still many different methodologies. Many are using more than one method to obtain and calculate emissions data, which only adds to the complexity and likely makes it difficult to get a holistic view of business travel emissions. The CountEmissionsEU proposal offers a much-needed harmonised framework and solution for this industry-wide challenge. By establishing a unified methodology, CountEmissionsEU paves the way for businesses to achieve greater transparency and consistency in their emissions reporting. This data-centric approach enables organisations to make informed decisions, thereby facilitating the transition to more sustainable travel choices. GBTA looks forward to collaborating with EU policymakers to further enhance the initiative's efficacy in guiding our industry towards greener practices.
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Response to Revision of the Visa Suspension Mechanism

28 Aug 2023

As the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), we welcome the initiative to revise the EU's visa suspension mechanism with the aim of addressing security and irregular migration risks. We recognise the importance of these goals and their alignment with broader international cooperation and safety. However, it is vital that any adjustments to the visa policy are carefully calibrated to uphold security without inadvertently hindering legitimate business travel. Business travellers play a crucial role in fostering international collaboration, innovation, and economic growth within the EU. We urge the Commission to strike a nuanced and balanced approach in revising the suspension mechanism, ensuring that measures addressing security and migration risks do not create unnecessary obstacles or delays for those engaged in lawful and essential business activities.
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Meeting with Ismail Ertug (Member of the European Parliament)

8 Nov 2022 · Driving Action to Net Zero Business Travel

Response to Review of EU rules on payment services

1 Aug 2022

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world's leading business travel and meetings organisation, managing over $345 billion of business travel worldwide each year. GBTA supports the policy option of making limited legislative changes to the Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) to those set out in the call for evidence. These amendments could mainly refocus the scope of the Directive to better reflect the needs of the business travel industry. GBTA recognises the achievements of this legislation since its implementation four years ago. It recognises its contribution to the reduction of fraud. However, as the global business travel association, GBTA has access to industry-specific figures, which allows it to have a more complete picture of the percentage of fraud that affects business travel - which is in fact marginal. In this light, GBTA welcomes the Commission's intention to include in the revision specific provisions on strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements, in particular to update the requirements for technical solutions used by payment services, which must ensure a high level of security for customers, while being convenient and user-friendly. As such, in order to continue to serve corporate customers, and given the marginal fraud that has been detected in the business travel sector, GBTA encourages the Commission to exclude the business travel sector from the SCA requirements. While we fully support the goal of combating fraud, we must recognize that the implementation of the SCA has also caused some disruption for merchants and service providers as well as customers, often driving users away from platforms. This is particularly the case for the business travel industry, as the transaction is often conducted by intermediaries (i.e. travel agents) or assistants who do not hold the cards. Business travel often relies on quick purchases via corporate accounts. In addition, the common translation of this requirement relies on the mandatory use of cell phones for verification, which is particularly problematic in the corporate travel industry because the phone number associated with corporate bank accounts is never personal to the purchaser. This makes the corporate booking process provided by travel management companies impossible while imposing an unnecessary administrative burden on business travelers. GBTA remains open to suggestions from the Commission, in lieu of two-factor authentication, to ensure a variety of secure payment options that could make online payments in our sector even safer and easier. Overall, we ask the Commission to take into account the specificities of the sector when amending this directive. We are also available to provide more details on the specifics of our industry if helpful.
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Meeting with Rachel Smit (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean), Walter Goetz (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean)

24 May 2022 · Aviation

Response to Better protection for passengers and their rights

17 Jan 2022

GBTA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commission’s call for evidence through its feedback consultation on better protection of air passenger rights. This initiative is particularly timely as COVID-19 has impacted business travel over the last two years and rendered obsolete the Commission’s 2013 proposal. Building on the experience of our industry pre- and post-pandemic, as well as on the Special Report 15/2021: Air passenger rights during the COVID-19 pandemic, GBTA would like to highlight three points that should be the guiding principles for a revision of the Air Service Regulations: 1) Ensure clarity through better information and enhanced standardization GBTA therefore calls on the European Commission to consider proposing measures that will enhance the display of standardized and relevant information at airports and on carriers’ online platforms as well as to create an EU-wide standardized reimbursement form for flights departing from or arriving to the EU where the delay was an airline’s fault. Such system would consequently improve consumer awareness and ease the process of going through a refund. Additionally, GBTA calls on these standardized measures to be similar across transport modes in order to properly boost multimodality of packaged travels. Finally, GBTA calls for more transparency and a framework that would prevent airlines from making last-minute decisions that do not allow passengers to rearrange their travel without significant cost and inconvenience. 2) Guarantee the refunding of travelers within a specified deadline GBTA calls for a regulatory framework which ensures that passengers are fully refunded, including all taxes. Passengers should also not be charged additional costs for canceled tickets that are moved to another date. In addition, GBTA advocates the introduction of fully automated, electronic refunds, using the same payment method used at the time of booking. Electronic and automated refunds would facilitate the passenger experience and remove any form of paperwork, making refunding as easy as booking a flight. If such an option is not possible, we call for the application of a mandatory automated notification of refund entitlements to be sent to the passengers concerned. Finally, GBTA calls on the European Commission to set up a guarantee fund for cancellations of flights and of travel packages that include flights within a specified deadline, which would enable airlines, travel agencies or package organizers to borrow from this fund to refund passengers. 3) Create better coordination mechanisms between Member States GBTA urges the European Commission and Member States to improve the coordination at the European level by providing timely measures that are likely to have important consequences for airlines, such as quarantines and travel bans as recommended by the European Court of Auditors. Additionally, we call on the European Commission to make ReOpenEU a hub where information is updated regularly and is user-friendly in order to limit the COVID-19 and future crisis’ consequences on air travel and air passenger rights. Conclusion: GBTA calls on the European Union to revise its legislative framework to ensure that passengers’ rights are fully upheld by enhancing clarity of procedures through standardization and increased information. In addition, we call on the European Union to better support air carriers through guarantee funds in order to continue to fully reimburse passengers without putting airlines in economic difficulty. Lastly, better coordination of travel restrictions at the EU level and the regular updating of the ReOpenEU hub have the potential to significantly decrease the violation of air passenger rights and the need for refunds. For more details on GBTA’s position, please see the attached policy statement.
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Response to Count your transport emissions: CountEmissions EU

17 Dec 2021

GBTA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commission’ call for evidence through its feedback consultation on a potential CountEmissions EU Regulation that would establish a single GHG emissions measuring mechanism to account for the greenhouse gases produced by the different stakeholders involved in the transportation sector. GBTA would like to emphasize two points: 1) Importance of providing fit-for-purpose emissions data GBTA believes that enhanced availability of standardized information on the carbon footprint of travel options is needed to significantly reduce the GHG emissions caused by mobility. Indeed, travel sector buyers and suppliers are not able to accurately determine their own transition pathways without credible data. To realize this, the Commission must ensure that the standardized reporting is fit for purpose and takes into account also the reporting needs of the business travel sector, which depends on transport mode decarbonization to achieve its own climate targets. While real-time emissions data reports, available at the end of trips, are critical to the ongoing reduction of GHG emissions, GBTA members need emissions data reports prior to travel to influence the behavior of business travelers when booking travel. Furthermore, greater transparency on the emissions of transport could support the adoption of multimodality in the European Union. By coupling this initiative with other proposals currently under consideration, such as the revision of the air services regulation and the initiative on multimodal digital mobility services, the European Union could benefit from greater transparency in terms of the carbon footprint of transport providers. With credible data, business travel buyers and travelers in general will be able to make informed and sustainable choices. For example, when flying, a more direct route has the potential to significantly reduce emissions compared to a flight with a stopover. 2) Importance of a global standard With respect to standardization, GBTA believes that the counting tool should be based on a common methodology that is widely used or can be scaled up to worldwide use, and which reflect an unbiased net-based calculation. Doing so would help avoid the creation of a patchwork of regional measures and ensure that the standardization is fit for the business travel sector’s purposes and internationally recognized. It is important the legislation ensures that transport providers publish usable data for buyers to make sustainable choices. In addition, promoting the use of a widely used international standard could encourage other regions of the world to follow the EU's lead and adopt a similar tool, thereby further reducing emissions from the transport sector. As a conclusion, the introduction of an CountEmissions EU initiative has the potential to increase sustainability transparency for travelers and therefore to foster climate-friendly consumer behavior. While GBTA supports the development of such a calculator at the European level, it stresses the importance of adopting globally recognized standards. GBTA stands ready to engage in constructive discussions with both decision-makers and the stakeholders to ensure that the calculating and reporting standards meet also the needs of the business travel value chain. For more details on GBTA’s position, please see the attached policy statement.
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Response to Revision of the provision of air services

6 Dec 2021

GBTA welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commission’ call for evidence through its feedback consultation on a potential Revision of the Air Services Regulation (EC 1008/2008) that organizes the internal EU aviation market and notably sets rules on price transparency in this market. As part of this feedback consultation, GBTA would like to highlight three points that should be the guiding principles for a revision of the Air Service Regulations: • On price transparency GBTA calls on the European Commission to make price transparency of air fares and ancillary services more resilient in order to protect consumer interests, as well as to enhance competition and connectivity. Additionally, this framework for transparency should set guidelines or amendments which would require carriers to clearly display reimbursable and non-reimbursable price elements, to clarify for consumers and for businesses what is covered by the concept of unavoidable and foreseeable price elements in air fares. Finally, GBTA believes that through this initiative, the European Union should tackle the issue of misleading price display which some online booking tools and aggregators use at the expense of travelers. • On sustainability transparency GBTA calls for the European Commission to establish guidance for airlines to provide transparent information regarding the carbon footprint of flights in order to enable travellers to make informed and sustainable choices when choosing a route and transport mode. Providing consumers with more information could, among other things, help them choose more direct routes to their final destination, which would produce fewer emissions than a route with a stopover. Additionally, where possible, more sustainable modes of transport should be displayed for similar routes. Finally, enabling travelers to make informed choice about the carbon footprint of their journey will not only require more transparency but also to establish a harmonized standard CO2 emission calculation scale for all transport modes. Coupling transparency with a standard CO2 emission calculation tool which allows to compare all transport mode will allow for concrete emission reductions. For these reasons, GBTA supports the effort of the European Commission to establish this standardized tool through the CountEmissions EU initiative. • On flight restrictions in times of crisis GBTA calls for caution and balance in the reform of the Air Services Regulation when it comes to providing more flexibility to European Member States or the European Commission to restrict flights to deal with a sudden crisis. A fragmentation of measures would be unsustainable and has the potential to significantly hamper the travel industry. Finally, any revision of the rules to provide more flexibility to allow flight restrictions should be subject to strict conditions. GBTA stands ready to engage in constructive discussions with both decision-makers and the stakeholder community to ensure we move closer to transparent air travel pricing. For more details on GBTA’s position, please see the attached policy statement.
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Meeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)

29 Nov 2021 · COVID and safe travel

Response to Revision of the Renewable Energy Directive (EU) 2018/2001

15 Nov 2021

Business travel is fundamental to the world economy and brings many benefits in terms of international connections and wealth creation. However, climate change is a global threat and responsible governments, industries and corporations must continue to work together to reduce carbon emissions and operate in a more sustainable manner. , GBTA calls on the EU institutions to consider the most cost-efficient policies to help towards the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization goals. The Paris Agreement has set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C and countries across the globe are working towards the goal of reaching net zero by 2050. To achieve this and balance the demand for travel, future European transport system must provide consumers with sustainable alternatives, for them to make a sound environmental decision when choosing transport modes for any part of their itinerary. Governments should actively identify ways in which to encourage corporations to adopt more sustainable practices. This will be an evolving basket of measures: for aviation this could be alternative fuels, technological development, more efficient air traffic management; for the lodging sector this could be environmentally friendly building design incorporating renewable energy and efficient water usage; support of LEED certification; automatic lights out mechanism when out of room; re-use of towels and reduction in single use plastics. GBTA supports the use and development of sustainable alternative fuels for air travel and other travel modes. The revised EU legislative framework should ensure that the supply of cleaner fuels is adequately supported in a way that avoids the final costs of the transition falling onto the consumer. This is because the availability of affordable mobility is a necessary condition to the functioning of the Single Market and the free movement of people. In particular, GBTA agrees with the European Commission’s view that “aviation is a strong driver for social and regional cohesion that boosts tourism, stimulates business and connects people,” which is why the Commission and the EU’s co-legislators must ensure that the necessary uptake and development of sustainable aviation fuels is both cost-effective and just. The industry must also do its part. To that end, GBTA’s membership representing both buyer and supplier corporations are striving to support environmentally sustainable travel. GBTA believes in the importance and contribution of every transport mode for a well-functioning, connected and seamless transport system. Some of our members have engaged in the green transition and have notably: • committed to reducing business travel carbon emission intensity by 50% relative to pre-pandemic levels by 2030 by reducing, decarbonizing and substituting. • established environmentally sustainable guidelines for meetings and events, and for all modes of business travel — including air, hotel, rail (new section of policy), and ground transportation — to strongly encourage virtual meetings, hybrid options, and more sustainable means of transportation when booking business travel. • implemented a preferred Rail Program in Europe in Q2 2021 and finalizing a US program in Q3 2021. • integrated guidelines and values into their “Global Meetings and Events” and “Travel and Expense” policies to scale them across the company, and also configured online booking tool to nudge best practices into the travel-booking process. For example, companies have activated a policy communication mechanism in the online booking tool to provide guidance for specific routes and to recommend the mode of travel (for example, rail versus air versus hybrid car rental) that has the smallest carbon footprint. For more details on GBTA’s position, please see the attached policy statement.
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Response to Revision of the Energy Tax Directive

15 Nov 2021

Business travel is fundamental to the world economy and brings many benefits in terms of international connections and wealth creation. However, climate change is a global threat and responsible governments, industries and corporations must continue to work together to reduce carbon emissions and operate in a more sustainable manner. GBTA calls on the EU institutions to consider the most cost-efficient policies to help towards the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization goals. The Paris Agreement has set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C and countries across the globe are working towards the goal of reaching net zero by 2050. To achieve this and balance the demand for travel, future European transport system must provide consumers with sustainable alternatives, for them to make a sound environmental decision when choosing transport modes for any part of their itinerary. Governments should actively identify ways in which to encourage corporations to adopt more sustainable practices. This will be an evolving basket of measures: for aviation this could be alternative fuels, technological development, more efficient air traffic management; for the lodging sector this could be environmentally friendly building design incorporating renewable energy and efficient water usage; support of LEED certification; automatic lights out mechanism when out of room; re-use of towels and reduction in single use plastics. It is vital that the proposed changes to the Energy Taxation Directive are fit for purpose to incentivize the transition to sustainable alternative fuels rather than function to suppress travel in the EU. To this end, it is necessary that the revenue from any such tax, if implemented, is fully reinvested to support the use and development of sustainable travel infrastructure and mobility solutions. During the legislative negotiations, the EU institutions must also ensure that the revision does not lead to the additional costs being passed down to create an unfair burden on the consumer. The industry must also do its part. To that end, GBTA’s membership representing both buyer and supplier corporations are striving to support environmentally sustainable travel. GBTA believes in the importance and contribution of every transport mode for a well-functioning, connected and seamless transport system. Some of our members have engaged in the green transition and have notably: • committed to reducing business travel carbon emission intensity by 50% relative to pre-pandemic levels by 2030 by reducing, decarbonizing and substituting. • established environmentally sustainable guidelines for meetings and events, and for all modes of business travel — including air, hotel, rail (new section of policy), and ground transportation — to strongly encourage virtual meetings, hybrid options, and more sustainable means of transportation when booking business travel. • implemented a preferred Rail Program in Europe in Q2 2021 and finalizing a US program in Q3 2021. • integrated guidelines and values into their “Global Meetings and Events” and “Travel and Expense” policies to scale them across the company, and also configured online booking tool to nudge best practices into the travel-booking process. For example, companies have activated a policy communication mechanism in the online booking tool to provide guidance for specific routes and to recommend the mode of travel (for example, rail versus air versus hybrid car rental) that has the smallest carbon footprint. For more details on GBTA’s position, please see the attached policy statement.
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Response to ReFuelEU Aviation - Sustainable Aviation Fuels

15 Nov 2021

Business travel is fundamental to the world economy and brings many benefits in terms of international connections and wealth creation. However, climate change is a global threat and responsible governments, industries and corporations must continue to work together to reduce carbon emissions and operate in a more sustainable manner. GBTA calls on the EU institutions to consider the most cost-efficient policies to help towards the 2030 and 2050 decarbonization goals. The Paris Agreement has set a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C and countries across the globe are working towards the goal of reaching net zero by 2050. To achieve this and balance the demand for travel, future European transport system must provide consumers with sustainable alternatives, for them to make a sound environmental decision when choosing transport modes for any part of their itinerary. Governments should actively identify ways in which to encourage corporations to adopt more sustainable practices. This will be an evolving basket of measures: for aviation this could be alternative fuels, technological development, more efficient air traffic management; for the lodging sector this could be environmentally friendly building design incorporating renewable energy and efficient water usage; support of LEED certification; automatic lights out mechanism when out of room; re-use of towels and reduction in single use plastics. GBTA supports the use and development of sustainable alternative fuels for air travel. The new EU legislative framework should however ensure that the demand and supply of cleaner fuels is adequately supported in a way that avoids the final costs of the transition falling onto the consumer. This is because the availability of affordable mobility is a necessary condition to the functioning of the Single Market and the free movement of people. GBTA agrees with the European Commission’s view that “aviation is a strong driver for social and regional cohesion that boosts tourism, stimulates business and connects people,” which is why the Commission and the EU’s co-legislators must ensure that the necessary transition to sustainable aviation fuels is both cost-effective and just. The industry must also do its part. To that end, GBTA’s membership representing both buyer and supplier corporations are striving to support environmentally sustainable travel. GBTA believes in the importance and contribution of every transport mode for a well-functioning, connected and seamless transport system. Some of our members have engaged in the green transition and have notably: • committed to reducing business travel carbon emission intensity by 50% relative to pre-pandemic levels by 2030 by reducing, decarbonizing and substituting. • established environmentally sustainable guidelines for meetings and events, and for all modes of business travel — including air, hotel, rail (new section of policy), and ground transportation — to strongly encourage virtual meetings, hybrid options, and more sustainable means of transportation when booking business travel. • integrated guidelines and values into their “Global Meetings and Events” and “Travel and Expense” policies to scale them across the company, and also configured online booking tool to nudge best practices into the travel-booking process. For example, companies have activated a policy communication mechanism in the online booking tool to provide guidance for specific routes and to recommend the mode of travel (for example, rail versus air versus hybrid car rental) that has the smallest carbon footprint. For more details on GBTA’s position, please see the attached policy statement.
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Meeting with Rachel Smit (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean)

12 Oct 2021 · Meeting to discuss safe and sustainable transports.

Meeting with Gaëlle Michelier (Cabinet of Commissioner Adina Vălean)

13 Nov 2020 · Introduction meeting to discuss aviation.

Response to Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy

29 Jul 2020

The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), which represents over 9,000 small and large corporations flying their employees across Europe and the world, welcomes the announced communication on the EU Strategy for Sustainable and Smart Mobility and the opportunity to contribute in shaping it. Taking note of the roadmap, GBTA would like to draw the European Commission’s attention on elements of concern for business travellers and offer its views for effective policymaking. GBTA's detailed comments, covering sustainability, connectivity and digitalisation, can be found in the attached document.
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Meeting with Joshua Salsby (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)

27 Mar 2019 · Aviation topics

Meeting with Joshua Salsby (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)

16 Oct 2018 · meeting with Michael W. McCormick, Executive Director COO, on EU aviation policy

Meeting with Giorgios Rossides (Cabinet of Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos)

28 Sept 2017 · EU/US visa reciprocity

Meeting with Joshua Salsby (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)

30 Mar 2017 · Aviation strategy

Meeting with Giorgios Rossides (Cabinet of Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos)

30 Mar 2017 · EU visa policy

Meeting with Joshua Salsby (Cabinet of Commissioner Violeta Bulc)

29 Sept 2016 · Aviation