The Commission aims to table the proposal on 20 December, pending endorsement from the 25 commissioners.
"From 2011, emissions from the aviation sector will be subject to a cap and aircraft operators will be required to surrender allowances to cover their emissions," according to a draft seen by Reuters.
"We are going to treat airlines irrespective of nationality in the same way, coming or going from EU airports," EU environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas told a press briefing on 9 November (EurActiv 10/11/06).
He added that including airlines in the scheme "is necessary because aviation emissions are increasing rapidly and threaten to undermine our progress in cutting emissions from other sectors".
Details of the plan include:
- All airlines "treated irrespective of nationality in the same way, coming or going from EU airports";
- pollution limits to be set by the Commission EU-wide. This is in contrast with the current system in which they are allocated at national level and then approved or rejected by Brussels;
- overall cap calculated based on average aviation emissions in 2004-2006;
- pollution permits allocated under the scheme can only be used (and therefore traded) by the aviation sector;
- impact study evaluates that the scheme would raise ticket prices by €4.6-€39.6, depending on the distance covered;
- government and military flights excluded, and;
- emissions of Nitrogen Oxide (NOX) could be tackled as well in the form of extra CO2 submissions required from airlines.
