BRUSSELS: Nine EU countries joined forces on Thursday to push for proposals for cleaner aviation in Europe, a highly polluting sector that they said was undertaxed.

Finance ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden urged the EU to come up with new measures to target the industry, but fell short of calling for a specific pollution tax.

Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark were also signatories to the pact, that was initiated by the Dutch.

According to the EU commission, if global aviation was a country, it would rank in the top 10 national emitters.

Airlines worldwide are spared hefty taxes on gasoline and other fossil fuels, just as the industry’s carbon footprint is skyrocketing.

“Compared to most other means of transportation, aviation is not sufficiently priced,” a statement by the coalition said.

“We call upon the European Commission to bring forward a proposal for an EU initiative on aviation pricing,” it said, carefully avoiding a call for the EU executive to draw up a new tax.—AFP