Brussels, 19/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 19 March, the European Parliament's environment committee, chaired by Mathias Groote (S&D, Germany), rejected a compromise struck in trialogue with the EP and Council of Ministers on 4 March to extend until 2016 the exemptions from the carbon trading scheme directive (2008/101/EC) currently granted to inter-continental flights (see EUROPE 11032).
It was far from certain that all the MEPs would go along with the compromise deal that would have extended the “stop the clock” system by four years rather than choosing the European Commission's suggested option of only applying the ETS directive to European airspace and covering all flights between European Economic Area airports while awaiting the entry into force in 2020 of the global agreement promised by the international Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). The vote was close with 29 MEPs voting for the regional option and 29 voting for the compromise. Since a majority was not reached, the document is deemed rejected.
Peter Liese (EPP, Germany), rapporteur on this issue, tried to get his colleagues to back a faulty compromise, but had to admit that the result of the trialogue talks had not generated enthusiasm. Now that it has been rejected, there will be a return to the initial rules covering all flights, including intercontinental flights, to their final destination.
The Greens Group criticised the compromise for being over-lenient to civil aviation, and is delighted with the outcome. “MEPs have today voted to set the record straight and ensure international flights are not let off the hook for their climate change impact. The Greens pushed for today's rejection and will now again advocate towards EU governments and the European Parliament to revise their agreement and ensure all flights are covered by the emissions trading scheme”, said Satu Hassi (Greens/EFA, Finland), climate change spokesperson for the Greens.
NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) welcomed the “courageous vote” rejecting “a bad compromise deal negotiated under pressure from the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and Germany” (see EUROPE 11034). (AN)