MEP gives cautious welcome to EU aviation emissions deal

An agreement to include greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft in the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) has been given a guarded welcome by parliament’s rapporteur on the proposals.

German centre-right deputy Peter Liese said on Friday that the agreement was a “major step” but that more needed to be done to involve non-EU countries in the initiative.

“When we have the European market, internal and intercontinental flights, plus the US market and incoming and outgoing flights from Asia, for example, then it will cover more than 50 per cent of the world’s air travel…this is what we are working towards,” he told TheParliament.com

“We need to move step by step to a global agreement,” he added.

Under the agreement, all flights starting and landing in Europe will be included in the ETS from 2012, with the exception of research flights and flights from small businesses producing few emissions.

There is an overall target to cut airline emissions by three per cent after 2012, and by five per cent from 2013 onwards, based on average annual emissions between 2004 and 2006.

Liese said that getting agreement from the council on these measures had proved very difficult.

“The ministers of transport and some airlines played a very, very bad role,” he said.

“They carried out some very negative lobbying, and were not looking at the details of the proposals but were just furious about the whole issue.”

The ETS places a limit on the amount of pollution that companies can emit, an offers businesses emissions allowances that can then be bought and sold as needed.

Under this agreement, 85 per cent of the allowances for emissions from aircraft will be allocated for free, with the remaining 15 per cent auctioned among businesses.

There is also an understanding within the agreement that the revenues from these auctions will be used to support projects and research towards tackling climate change.

Liese said that he had hoped for a legal obligation on member states to report on how this money is used, a proposal which was rejected by the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany, among others.

Member states will instead be obliged to report on how the money has been spent.

Liese said that the pressure was on the council to ensure that this part of the agreement was kept.

“They [member states] would be well advised to really spend the money carefully, not only on clean aircraft but on climate change in the broader sense, for example deforestation or promoting clean transport,” he said.

“Politically, it is very clear. If they report that the money has just disappeared somewhere…we could really take this as an opportunity to challenge member states.”

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