EU ministers fine-tune plans to cut plane emissions

European ministers have formally adopted changes to a Commission plan to include the aviation sector in the EU’s carbon cap-and-trade scheme, paving the way for three months of tough negotiations with Parliament. 

The common position, adopted by ministers on 18 April, confirms a political agreement reached by the Council last December, allowing the dossier to be passed back to the European Parliament for second reading. 

However, the Council’s failure to boost the level of ambition compared to the original text proposed by the Commission is likely to put it on a collision path with MEPs. 

Indeed, in its first reading vote, Parliament had demanded that all airlines flying to and from EU territory be included in the bloc’s emission trading scheme as early as 2011. It also said the sector should be made to reduce its CO2 emissions by 10% compared to average 2004-2006 levels and that 25% of all pollution permits should be auctioned, rather than handed out for free (EURACTIV 14/11/07). 

The Council, on the other hand, wants to give airlines until 2012 to comply with the scheme and says the sector should be allowed to keep emission levels steady at the 2004-2006 average. It further insisted on giving out 90% of the pollution credits for free so as not to put too much pressure on airlines’ competitiveness. 

Parliament’s rapporteur on the issue, German MEP Peter Liese (EPP-ED), now has three to four months to achieve a consensus on the basis of the Council’s common position. A first vote on his revised report will be held in Parliament’s environment committee in just over a month, on 27 May. The full House should then take a vote on 7 July. 

Slovenia, which currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency, is keen to bring the dossier to a successful conclusion without having to resort to the lengthy “conciliation procedure”, which takes place when the two institutions are unable to reach an agreement. 

But Parliament is unlikely to give in to the Council easily. In an earlier interview with EURACTIV, Liese had already stressed the importance of having “a substantial amount of auctioning” in order to avoid airlines making so-called “windfall profits” by passing on the non-existent costs of permits to their passengers. He further believes that a bigger proportion of auctioning is the only way to ensure that new competitors can enter the market. 

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