Brussels, 12/11/2012 (Agence Europe) - Tactical bargaining: Connie Hedegaard has agreed to put the ETS on ice for one year, if the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) offers a global solution to efforts to reduce CO2 emissions from aviation. Having thus created a “positive atmosphere”, the European Climate Action Commissioner left the general meeting of ICAO on Wednesday 9 November optimistic as to the progress under way.
Stopping the clocks. Hedegaard has recommended shelving the European system for trading in greenhouse gas emissions quotas (ETS) as applied to aviation for international flights entering or leaving the EU. Basically, this means that for the flights in question, the airlines will not be obliged to pay their dues in January 2013, but will in January 2014. She notified the 27 European ministers of this over the telephone on Monday 12 November: She explained that she has proposed to stop the clocks, because there are signs that an agreement may be concluded at international level. But she added that, just so that things are clear, if no agreement is reached ahead of the next meeting of ICAO in October 2013, we will be picking back up where we left off. There will be no new proposal.
High-level group. Thanks to this bargaining, she got ICAO to set up a high-level group to work on international legislation to reduce CO2 emissions from aviation, on the basis of market mechanisms. “This is a big step (…) ICAO has made here”, she said, adding that “this is a long-awaited opportunity that we must make use of. It is progress, but there are many tough negotiations are still ahead of us”.
No more excuses. Although some have their misgivings about the gift given by Hedegaard to create a “positive atmosphere” in the negotiations at ICAO, a source close to the dossier explained that this means that third countries opposed to the ETS “will no longer be able to hide behind the ETS to justify their inaction”. They will have a year to prove that they genuinely want a global solution.
Co-decision. In a telephone conversation with the commissioner, the 27 are believed already to have enshrined this one-year “freeze” of the ETS. Nonetheless, a legislative procedure in co-decision must be launched to amend European legislation to this effect. (MD/transl.fl)