Brussels, 13/03/2013 (Agence Europe) -Negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement, in Strasbourg on Tuesday evening, to temporarily exclude flights from third countries from the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) under which, from January this year, they would have had to pay for 15% of allocated quotas (see EUROPE 10804 and10794). Under the terms of this agreement, which is expected to be ratified by the Council and the European Parliament (EP), exemptions will benefit inter-continental flights to and from EU airports and will only apply to emissions for 2012, for which certificates have already been submitted before 30 April 2013.
Rapporteur Peter Liese (EPP, Germany) said that “the EU only envisages measures on the basis of a substantial agreement at the September assembly of the ICAO. This means that either the ICAO will find a solution or our legislation will cover inter-continental flights, as was initially planned”. Mathias Groote (S&D, Germany), chairman of the EP's environment committee, sees this agreement as “a strong indication that the EU is not joking when it calls for an international agreement to reduce emissions from aviation”. The Parliamentary vote will take place during the plenary session on 15-18 April. The Council's approval is also required to enable the text amending the ETS directive to come into force before 30 April. (AN/transl.fl)