Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales
GIFAS
Le Groupement des Industries Françaises Aéronautiques et Spatiales est une fédération professionnelle qui regroupe plus de 400 sociétés – depuis les grands maîtres d’œuvre et systémiers jusqu’aux PME – spécialisées dans l’étude, le développement, la réalisation, la commercialisation et la maintenance de tous programmes et matériels aéronautiques et spatiaux.
ID: 403389730767-67
Lobbying Activity
Response to Initiative on EU taxonomy - environmental objective
3 May 2023
The French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the draft Delegated Act amending the so-called Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act published by the European Commission on 05 April 2023. GIFAS is the structure that represents the French aerospace industry, a cohesive, hard-driving and high-technology sector specialized in the design, development, construction, marketing and maintenance of all aeronautical and space programmes and equipment - civilian and military planes as well as defence & security systems. It brings together 444 companies, ranging from main prime contractors and system suppliers to SMEs and startups. It directly employs 195 000 people. We welcome the European Commissions draft Delegated Act for the inclusion of the aviation sector (including manufacturers, leasing companies, airlines and ground handling and Air Navigation operations) in the EU Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act as contributing substantially to the climate change mitigation objective, that is broadly consistent with the criteria and recommendations of the Sustainable Finance Platform. This is fundamental to leverage the investment required by all aviation stakeholders to meet net zero emissions target by 2050. We also welcome the recognition that specifically designed and equipped aircraft, including helicopters, that provide emergency and disaster risk services play a key role in the context of the climate change adaptation objective. Through a joint industry letter from February 2023, the Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) called for the entire aviation sector (manufacturers, leasing companies, airlines and other aircraft operators, airports, ground handling and Air Navigation Service Providers) to be included into the EU Taxonomy, without excluding any stakeholder, building in particular on the work done by the EU Platform for Sustainable Finance. To be successful, the transitional activities to net-zero which are fully in-line with the principles of the EU Taxonomy need to be built on robust decarbonisation pathways. These include significant investment in the latest generation of fuel-efficient aircraft to replace current aircraft; the extensive production and use of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) and the deployment of resources for the research and development of next generation aircraft/engines. According to the Destination 2050 Price of Net Zero report from the Dutch institutions NLR and SEO, it is estimated that at least 820 billion of additional investments will be required over the next 27 years to achieve aviations ambition and this must be supported by sustainable financing. Climate experts agree that progress needs to be swift and therefore it is of critical importance that the Delegated Act amending the Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act for aviation Taxonomy is approved during this mandate. Please refer to the attached file for the detailed position.
Read full responseResponse to Action Plan on synergies and cross-fertilisation between the civil, defence and space industries
23 Oct 2020
In a rapidly changing international context with a race for technological advances, it’s important to support the sectors contributing to the EU's sovereignty and technological independence, especially in the current crisis context. Each sector has its own specificity and support for synergies must bring added value to each of them, operating in a complementary manner.
Lack of level playing field at the international level :
Synergies between defence, space and civil aeronautics are paramount for the competitiveness of the related industries. In countries such as USA and China, defence and space R&D budgets are massively high as per EU standards. Both of these countries are then leaders in defence and space. These investments directly and indirectly benefit their civil aviation industry. For the time being, Europe remains number one for the commercialisation/export of telecom and earth observation satellite but, without an effort in R&T/I, it could erode rapidly. Innovation for defence purposes, in order to protect operational superiority, may imply long time to reach civil market and requires long term investments.
Defence, space and civil aeronautics:
are strategic by nature: these three sectors contribute to the strategic autonomy of the EU.
They are recognized as such in the regulations (see aerospace in FDI regulation). The space and aeronautics sectors, by offering unique services to other sectors and to many public policies, contributes to EU’ sovereignty and competitiveness. Space infrastructure is increasing the resilience of industrial offerings and complementing other land-based assets.
have a leverage effect on other industries in terms of innovation and environment goals:
They are used to manage complex programmes. By virtue of their high technological level, they have significant repercussions on the whole EU civil industry. They also know how to integrate innovations from others (digital, hydrogen...). As their products are under stringent environments and conditions of operation, they pull upward the rest of the industry as regards innovation. Through the modernization of the manufacturing processes, they contribute to achieving the EU's environmental objectives (reduction of energy consumption and generation of waste…). See Annex 1/examples of synergies and cross-fertilizations.
benefit to the whole value chain: The investments in R&D generate positive spill-overs across the whole chain, providing benefits especially to EU SMEs and mid-caps.
contribute to education and skills cross-fertilization: The sector continuously needs talented workers and forefront competences in many areas. In particular, a high demand for data scientists, electric engineers, digital experts and AI experts is emerging.
Fundings/The above elements imply that we need more support for our sectors, not less :
The search for synergies must not lead to a contraction of the R&D budgets of these three sectors which do not benefit from a level of support comparable to their competitors. The long-term competitiveness of the EU defence, space and civil aviation industries and the EU’ strategic autonomy depend on the R&D effort. As these R&D efforts are provided by companies, considering that the vectors of synergy are first the companies is key. Other obvious synergies would need additional financings: a sovereign cloud such as Gaia-X needs sovereign means of communication. See Annex 2.
General recommendations :
Keep the specificity of each sector
The dedicated EU budgets for space, defence and aeronautics research will soon be adopted. They are not permeable and intend to finance finished products in these sectors. Any new initiative requiring funding should have its own funding plan.
Provide an IP protection consistent with sensitive technologies used in Defence and Space.
Maintain coherence and continuity between existing programmes and new initiatives.
Call for good cooperation and coordination with other DGs.
Read full responseMeeting with Henrik Hololei (Director-General Mobility and Transport)
23 Sept 2019 · visit of GIFAS pavillon