Brussels, 28/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - The airlines have reacted extremely negatively to the “free” CO2 emissions quotas (ETS) announced by European Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard on 26 September (EUROPE 10460). She stated that the airlines would benefit from €20 billion worth of free carbon permits at current prices on the CO2 markets for the next decade. She suggested that this money, which the industry was not going to have to pay out, could be used to invest in energy efficiency and non-fossil fuels. In the view of the associations representing the interests of airlines, these are above all measures which could bring the sector to its knees: “to refer to carbon permits as revenue is totally absurd”, said the secretary general of the Association of European Airlines (AEA), Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus. He is in agreement on this issue with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the European Regions Airlines Association (ERA), which go even further in their joint press release: “it is high time that the Commission woke up to reality. Saying airlines are the beneficiaries of a scheme that deprives them of revenues shows a blatant misunderstanding of economic reality”. The dossier of carbon permits in aviation is far from over, as the American Air Transport Association (ATA) has brought the matter before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The advocate general who has been overseeing the case since December 2009 is to return his opinion next month. (MD/transl.fl)