Est. 3min 12-11-2007 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram MEPs are likely to toughen up a Commission proposal on including aviation in the EU’s carbon cap-and-trade scheme, according to rapporteur Peter Liese. While environmentalists say the plans remain too weak to tackle the urgency of climate change, airlines claim stronger proposals could “completely kill the competitiveness of the industry”. A battle over the details of the Commission’s proposal to include aviation in the EU ETS is likely to take place in the European Parliament ahead of a key first-reading vote on 13 November 2007. Past debates in sectoral committees have revealed largely diverging positions on the following points of the text: Start date: While the environment and economic committees have called for the sector to be included in Europe’s carbon cap-and-trade system as early as 2010 – one year earlier than the Commission had initially proposed, the transport and trade committees are siding with airlines in saying that 2012 should be the start date. Baseline and cap: The Commission had initially proposed that the cap should equal to average emissions recorded by the airline sector between 2004 and 2006. However, the environment committee voted that it should be set at just 75% of those levels, with the most extreme members calling for it to be set at 50% of 2004-2006 levels, which would be equivalent to a return to 1990 figures, as is required from other industries already included in the ETS. The transport committee nevertheless said the overall cap should be set at 110% of the average between 2007 and 2009 – which would thus allow airlines to increase their emissions compared to current levels. Auctioning: MEPs in the environment committee also decided that half of the pollution permits that are to be issued under the scheme be auctioned, in order to avoid airlines making so-called ‘windfall profits’ when passing on the costs to air travellers. The transport committee, on the other hand, suggested that airlines be given 80% of this quota for free. The Commission had initially recommended that only 10% of the permits be auctioned. MEPs will also have to decide whether to approve an environment committee proposal to multiply the cost of all CO2 permits bought by airlines by two if the Commission fails to develop legislation before 2010 to address Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions. Read more with Euractiv Passenger screening plan a 'nightmare', say airlines European airlines have lashed out at an EU counter-terrorism proposal which would force them to share private passenger data, such as passport numbers and credit card details, with European security agencies. Positions MEP Peter Liese, who drafted Parliament's report on the proposal, pointed out that other industries had successfully implemented the ETS in 2005, with less than two years notice and despite the fact that no similar scheme had been in place earlier. With legislation on including aviation due to be completed in 2008 at the latest, he noted that 18 months notice was "justified and acceptable" and that the scheme should begin in 2010. He added that there would be "no point in starting in 2012", seeing as the scheme is due to be replaced by the revised ETS for all industries as of 2013 already. Regarding the cap and baseline, he commented: "To take a base period in the future runs counter to the aim of the proposal [...] The whole airline sector would be discouraged from investing in clean fuels until 2010." He believes that the cap could be set somewhere around 90% of 2004-2006 levels. On auctioning, he predicted that the final figure would likely be "somewhere in between 20% and 50%". He stressed: "Of course it's going to involve costs, but a €22 billion burden for carriers also represents a €22 billion investment in climate protection and modern technologies. So it works both ways. But I think that figure is rather over the top." He also rejected the idea of weakening the proposal in order to get approval from the United States and other countries on a global scheme. "There's no point in trying to go halfway to meet them because they simply don't want to be involved at all." Nevertheless, in an interview with EURACTIV, the Association of European Airlines' General Manager of Communications Françoise Humbert said: "The Environment committee proposal is so extreme that it's got the potential to completely kill the competitiveness of the industry." While she conceded that the ETS is "for us, the best of all the market-based instruments" because it provides "an incentive to invest into new technologies", she warned that "if it's badly designed [...] then it will not allow us to invest in anything". She said having a cap based on a reference period that is closer to the trading period, for example 2007-2009, "would give us a more realistic basis and also make it easier for new member states, whose traffic has boomed since their accession to the EU." She denied that having a later start date with increased CO2 allowances goes against efforts to tackle climate change, saying: "Emissions don't grow at the same speed as air traffic does – a lot of measures have been taken to ensure that, including operational measures, infrastructural measures, new technologies, new engines [...] We are reducing our emissions as we go along." What's more, she stressed that if the proposal is too tough then there would be no chance of getting other regions in the world to follow suit. "That's our fear because a global system would make sense [...] from a competitiveness point of view but, more importantly, also from an environmental point of view," she said. However, environmental groups Transport and Environment (T&E), WWF, Friends of the Earth and Climate Action Network insisted that the environment committee report was not tough enough. They said that, although the committee had improved on the original legal proposal from the Commission, its proposal to cap emissions at 75% of 2004-2006 levels would result in an increase in emissions of around two thirds, compared to 1990 levels. This, they said, represented "a step back from an earlier resolution [...] that said the sector should cut emissions in line with Kyoto Protocol targets" and contradicted a commitment from EU heads of state and government to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions by 20-30% by 2020. They also rejected the idea of giving away pollution permits for free. Delia Villagrasa of WWF stressed: "Paying for all pollution permits means that the aviation sector adheres to the 'polluter pays' principle and airlines actually have the most incentives to improve their performance." She added that other measures "such as a fuel tax and the end of VAT exemptions are also needed" in order to tackle the rising impact of aviation on the climate. The NGOs nevertheless welcomed the committee's proposal to deal with the impact of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions thanks to a two-times emissions multiplier, although commented that "the full climate impact of aviation is between two and five times that of CO2 alone." To read the full interview with Françoise Humbert, please click here. BackgroundIn an effort to tackle aviation's small but fast-growing contribution to climate change, the Commission issued a legislative proposal in December 2006 to include the sector in the EU's emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS). The proposal involves imposing a cap on CO2 emissions for all planes arriving or departing from EU airports, while allowing airlines to buy and sell 'pollution credits' on the EU 'carbon market'. Timeline 13 Nov. 2007: First reading vote in Parliament plenary. 1 Jan. 2011: Commission target date for aviation sector to start trading CO2. Further ReadingEU official documents European Parliament:Draft report on including aviation activities in the scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading withing the Community(19 Ocober 2007) [FR] [FR] [DE] [FR] [DE] Aviation and climate change Business & Industry Association of European Airlines (AEA):Common Position on Amendments to the Commission's Proposal to include Aviation in the Current EU ETS(19 Ocober 2007) NGOs and Think-Tanks Transport & Environment, WWF, Friends of the Earth and Climate Action Network:MEPs retreat on aviation emissions plan(2 Ocober 2007)
