MEPs vote to curb aviation emissions

The European Parliament angered the aviation industry on Tuesday (13 November) by voting for significantly tougher curbs on airlines’ emissions of greenhouse gases.

MEPs voted to strengthen a draft law on bringing aviation into the emissions trading scheme (ETS), which was proposed by the Commission last year. The Parliament voted in favour of a 10% cut in airline operators’ emissions by 2011 compared to their average emissions for 2004-06. The Commission had proposed a cap on allowances at 100% of 2004-06 levels. The Parliament also voted to expand the scheme to all intra-EU flights from 2011 and to abandon an exemption from the scheme for government flights, arguing that it was up to governments to set an example. The package of amendments was approved by an approximate majority of two to one (the vote was by a show of hands).

The draft law now goes to the Council of Ministers in December, when ministers will decide whether to approve the Parliament’s changes. The draft law is expected to go to a second reading, despite earlier hopes of getting a deal wrapped up in one reading.

The aviation industry condemned the measures for "penalising" passengers. The Association of European Airlines said that the inclusion of aviation in the ETS would be "a massive blow to the viability and competitive-ness of the European aviation industry".

Caroline Lucas, a UK Green MEP, said that Parliament’s amendments were "a significant improvement on the Commission’s original proposal". But she added that she had "mixed feelings" about the outcome, as the result is weaker than the system that MEPs backed last year when they called for a separate ETS for aviation.

Green MEPs worry that including aviation in the existing ETS would allow airline companies to buy allowances from other polluting industries, without taking measures to cut their own emissions. The amendments proposed by Parliament would create a partially closed system, by putting limits on the amounts of carbon credits that airline companies could buy from other industries. Lucas estimates that companies would be restricted to being able to buy only 13% of permits from other sectors.

Aviation accounts for around 3% of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and is one of the fastest growing sources of such gases.

The European Parliament angered the aviation industry on Tuesday (13 November) by voting for significantly tougher curbs on airlines’ emissions of greenhouse gases.