Environment committee wants airlines in EU emissions trading scheme

Members of the environment committee have endorsed calls for the aviation sector to be included in the emissions trading scheme (ETS).
 
The commmittee has agreed to the plans which, it is claimed, will have a "minimal" impact on the cost of air travel.
 
Parliament will now try to reach agreement with member states on the matter over the coming weeks.
 
Although the council in principle also favours the inclusion of aviation in the ETS, it is opposed to earmarking the revenue generated from the auctioning of emission permits.
 
The committee's decision was greeted by German centre right MEP Peter Liese, who drafted a report for parliament on the issue.
 
Speaking later at a news conference, he said, "If these plans become law, the aviation sector will have to make a more substantial contributing to combating climate change.
 
"In particular, the most polluting airlines will have to pay."
 
Conversely, he said the cost to airline passengers would be minimal, with a return flight from Frankfurt to Mallorca, for example, increasing by an average of just six euros."
 
The cost of including aviation in ETS would mean that, on average, the cost of a flight within the EU would increase by a maximum of 10 euros per passenger, he estimates.
 
He admitted the committee vote on Tuesday could now lead to "tricky" negotiations with EU member states.
 
Liese added, "The revenues generated through the emissions trading should not disappear in the general budgets but should be used to mitigate climate change.
 
"They should be used for the research of clean aircraft and to lower taxes and charges on environmentally-friendly transport such as rail and bus.
 
"This will be one of the sticking points in the negotiations with member states."
 
The committee also voted in favour of a continuous decrease of the overall emissions cap and a high level of auctioning: only 75 per per cent of emission allowances are to be allocated for free.
 
"Free allocation has not proven successful," he said. "In the past, the power sector could benefit from windfall profits under the ETS. This is why we have to rethink our approach and give up the principle of free allocation."

• Previous article
• Next article