Aviation Industry Cries Foul After ICAO Agreement

The European Union (EU) has proposed a modified version its widely-panned Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that would have charged all airlines regardless of country of registry for emissions during the full duration of their flights.

The latest proposal would charge airlines using any airport in an EU member state for emissions expelled during the portion flights conducted in European airspace. Reuters reports that EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said that the EU is well within its rights to regulate such emissions.

But the proposal drew fire from international aviation groups such as the IATA and Airlines for America, which say that the proposal threatens the "fragile" agreement passed during the recent ICAO meeting in Montreal last month.

A4A spokeswoman Katie Connell said the organization urges the European Council and Parliament "to use their deliberative process to revise the proposal in line with the global agreement." Abdul Wahab Teffaha, secretary general of the Arab Air Carriers Organization, said that if the EU carries through with the ETS, "we will be back to trade wars."

The European Commission decided to review the law after the ICAO reached its agreement, but unless the new proposal is adopted ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections and changeover next year, the suspended existing law charging airlines for the full duration of their flights would go back into effect.

FMI: www.www.europarl.europa.eu/portal/en