Business Travel Associations Frustrated With Slow Progress of EU Initiatives

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The European Network of Business Travel Associations, BT4Europe, has expressed its frustration with the slow pace of progress in the EU Commissionโ€™s initiative related to transportation, sustainability, and digitalisation.

While BT4Europe has supported these initiatives, it has said that it fears that important dossiers may be left unaddressed with the elections for the new European Parliament in just six months.

For this reason, BT4Europe decided to write to some EU representatives urging the authorities to prioritise these crucial dossiers and make business travel a higher priority, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

BT4Europe wrote to EU Commission PresidentUrsula von der Leyen, EU Parliament President Roberta MEP Roberta Metsola, and the Prospective President-in-office of the forthcoming Belgian Presidency, Alexander De Croo.

BT4Europe is committed to supporting the European institutions in their endeavours to advance on CountEmissionEU, MDMS, and the A1 form exception. Unfortunately, it is disheartening to note that all the aforementioned initiatives seem to be facing delays extending into late 2024 and potentially even 2025.

BT4Europe Chair Patrick Diemer

A key concern highlighted by BT4Europe is the demand for a unified standard for accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions by buyers of business travel.

To ensure a clear and transparent reporting standard, the organisation has called for the swift adoption and implementation of the draft CounEmissionEU proposal.

In addition, BT4Europe has advocated for a more significant focus on rail travel for cross-border business trips over air travel. It emphasised the need for a regulation that allows suppliers to display as well as allow booking of cross-border rail alternatives through third-party booking engines. Even though the Commission made a proposal about this earlier this year, several delays have been encountered.

According to BT4Europe, business travel has also long been waiting for an exemption from the A1 form requirement, which is payment proof of social security in another Member State.

BT4Europe said that this requirement creates unnecessary costs for corporations as well as travellers. For this reason, it has called on the EU institutions to reach an agreement as soon as possible.

Converting BT4Europeโ€™s commitment to supporting the EU institutions in advancing different initiatives, Diemer said that they are still disappointed about the delays.

The same stressed the need to prioritise business travel to accelerate sustainable and digital transformations as well as enhance the overall prosperity of Europe.

The challenges posed by delays are not only concerns for the business travel sector but also impact broader goals of economic growth and sustainability in the EU. Consequently, the EU authorities are expected to take measures on the matter as soon as possible.

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