Brussels, 04/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament's endorsement on Thursday 3 April of the compromise reached with the Council of Ministers to extend until 2017 the derogation to the ETS carbon trading directive for long-haul flights is a great disappointment for environmental NGOs and low-cost airlines, but aeronautic, space and defence industries (AS) are delighted, given their reactions to the vote (see EUROPE 11053).
NGO Transport and Environment (T&E) say that, by agreeing to let the ETS rules only cover inter-European flights by extending a derogation initially only planned for one year, the European Parliament has given in to pressure and threats from non-EU countries, the aviation industry and European leaders' lack of ambition. Bill Hemmings of T&E says that the most recent IPCC report shows that climate change will affect all areas of human life, but governments and politicians have decided to unravel the only legislation in the world that is trying to reduce the sector's huge greenhouse gas emissions. He said that regulating emissions in European airspace is not only a right, but a duty. T&E warns that, if significant progress is not made at the ICAO conference in 2016, then there will be enormous pressure on EU decision-makers to keep their promises to apply the initial ETS legislation.
WWF says it is disappointed that the compromise negotiated with the hope of facilitating agreement at ICAO is a high-risk strategy that will delight most of the aviation industry and non-EU countries that oppose ETS without any guarantee of success. Jason Anderson of WWF said that the deal will make the environment pay a high price as the scope of the ETS will be reduced by 75%.
The European Low Fare Airlines Association, ELFAA, is calling on the Council of the EU to review its position. It says that the victims of the comprise are the environment (less than 20% of aviation emissions will be covered) and European consumers, who will be the only ones to pay the high cost of this highly discriminatory outcome, without any real gain for the environment.
ASD welcomes what it describes as a pragmatic vote that provides clarity for the next three years. It says it is convinced that, by giving the international community the time to find a global solution to a global problem, CO2 emission reductions will greatly exceed what would have been achieved using a regional approach. In a press release, ADS says that this will also avoid setting up an uneven playing field for airlines. (AN)