Brussels, 24/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - The vote by the American Senate on a bill aiming to ban American airlines from paying anything at all under the emissions trading system of the EU (ETS) will have no effect on the EU's position, until a global agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from air transport has been reached at ICAO, the European Commission announced on Monday 24 September. When invited to comment on the vote, Isaac Valero-Ladron, the spokesperson to Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, said: “We have always said that we would keep our legislation in place until there is a global agreement [on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from air transport: Ed]. Where is the global agreement? We regret the fact that the American Senate has adopted this bill. We expect the American authorities to focus on reaching a global agreement as soon as possible. We hope that this will be possible this year”. He went on to express his hopes for a “change in approach of the American authorities reflecting the urgent need” to reach this agreement. (AN/transl.fl)