MEPs vote to include airlines in EU emissions trading scheme

STRASBOURG: MEPs have backed a compromise proposal that will see all flights into and out of the EU covered by the EU’s flagship emissions trading scheme (ETS) from 2012.

The proposals, thrashed out by rapporteur Peter Liese and the member states, were welcomed by most MEPs, although some were disappointed at the lack of ambition shown by national governments in watering down the proposals.

Under the terms of the deal, backed by a large majority of MEPs, airline emissions allowances will be capped at 97 per cent of average 2004-2006 levels in 2012, falling to 95 per cent in 2013.

The majority of allowances (85 per cent) will be given away for free with just 15 per cent sold via auction – a disappointment for environment commissioner Stavros Dimas who had pushed for a 20 per cent auction in 2013, rising to 100 per cent by 2020, in line with changes proposed for the overall ETS after 2012.

But Dimas said that the commission would back the compromise deal, although he hoped that his more ambitious proposals would be included in Irish MEP Avril Doyle’s report on the reform of the ETS as a whole – due to come before parliament in the autumn. 

Liese said the key element of the deal was the inclusion of transcontinental flights in the system, since “two-thirds of the EU’s CO2 emissions come from that originate or end outside Europe”.

But he rejected suggestions by some MEPs that the deal had been brokered behind closed doors with member states.

“There were no backroom deals,” he said. “Yes, it is perhaps true that the agreement is not as ambitious as some environmental groups would have wanted, but we would never have had a compromise if we had insisted.”

Green MEP Caroline Lucas said she was “disappointed” by the “intransigence” of member states who talked the talk on tackling climate change but lacked the political will to walk the walk.

“It is a small step, but also a missed opportunity,” she said, berating in particular the unambitious cap on emissions which will offer little incentive for improvement.

Other elements of the deal include an obligation on the part of the EU to seek a global deal on reducing airline emissions – a job that Liese admitted was likely to be easier with either John McCain or Barack Obama in the White House, both of whom are considered ‘greener’ than George W Bush, since agreement with the US is seen as the most likely first step.

Small airline companies (with fewer than 243 flights per period for three consecutive four-month periods) and airline companies producing low emissions (total annual emissions lower than 10 000 tonnes per year) are excluded from the scheme, but flights by heads of state and government will be subjected to emissions allowances.

Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, France’s ecology minister representing the presidency, said that a compromise had of necessity been reached on the issue of how the money raised by the auctioning of emission allowances would be spend.

“Under international airline agreements, we are not allowed to impose a tax on the airline sector, so we had to stipulate that the money raised from the auctions should, as a priority, be spent on climate change initiatives in the EU and third countries,” she told journalists after the vote.
 
But she said that the deal was “balanced” between environmental and economic needs, and while it might not have gone as far as many had hoped, it nonetheless should be seen as a solid basis for the EU to lead global discussions on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
 
Not surprisingly, air carriers were disappointed with the deal.

Responding to the European Parliament’s plenary vote in Strasbourg today on the inclusion of aviation into the EU ETS, said:

“Today’s vote creates the worst of all worlds – even more financial pressure on airlines without any proven benefits for the environment,” said Sylviane Lust, Director General of IACA, the organisation which represents 38 international airlines.

“Policymakers have succeeded in diverting any potential investment by airlines in new fleet and technology.”

“The scheme’s starting point is wrong.  By setting auctioning at 15 per cent and the cap at 97 per cent, it will be crippling for many airlines especially in today’s era of high fuel price and weakening demand,” Lust added.

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