EU seeks to force transport CO2 rules on trade partners[fr][de] 

• CO2 and cars: 

While ministers from all member states, except Poland, backed the broad lines of the Commission's strategy, many voiced concern regarding the impact that it would have on employment and the competitiveness of the EU's automobile sector. 

Spain even suggested that the CO2 cap should be applied not only to European manufacturers but also to all vehicle manufacturers seeking to sell cars in the EU, regardless of their nationality. This would avoid placing European carmakers at a disadvantage with their competitors. 

• Aviation and CO2: 

The Commission's plans to integrate aviation into the EU's CO2 emissions cap-and-trade system also received broad support from member states, but a majority of countries insisted that all routes – intra-EU and international – be covered by the scheme as of the same date. 

This would effectively force foreign airlines to comply with EU aviation emissions rules. But US carriers are adamant that this would be illegal and that the EU must wait for a global agreement to be reached in the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). 

On cars, Spanish Environment Minister Cristina Narbona said that rules limiting CO2 emissions from cars "should also apply to manufacturers, of any nationality, which produce vehicles that are sold in the EU, in order to avoid discrimination against European manufacturers". 

Only Poland said that it was doubtful that a mandatory cap would work better than the current voluntary agreement.

On aviation, Danish Environment Minister Connie Hedegaard said: "We cannot wait for ICAO and we cannot allow our competitiveness to be harmed…All flights must be included from day one." 

Dutch Environment State Secretary Pieter van Geel  agreed: "I can envisage that from 2011 we could start with all flights, not just EU ones." But he warned that the EU would have to prepare itself, legally speaking, for the number of complaints that would come from third countries. 

Ireland's Environment Minister Dick Roche  added that the planned 12-month delay for international flights would "not achieve a great deal", saying that the EU should instead send out a clear message to the rest of the world. 

Ireland, Greece and Portugal also stressed concern for the situation of peripheral regions. Portuguese Environment Minister Francisco NUNES CORREIA said: "We think it would be appropriate to include all flights in the system irrespective of nationality…The only exceptions should be flights from the outermost regions," such as Madera and the Azores, which are exclusively dependent on aviation for contact with the outside world. 

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Marion Blakey reiterated US opposition to EU plans to include airlines from third countries in a proposed European emissions trading scheme, saying: "Many countries around the world, including the US, view this unilateral approach as unworkable and unsustainable under international law." She added that the approach "is directly counter to everything ICAO stands for" and that "trying to impose a 'one-size-fits-all' solution on a complex issue in a global industry is a recipe for failure".