On Thursday 1 October, the European Commission launched the second phase of public consultation on the revision of the Directive (2003/87) on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for the aviation sector.
Scheduled for completion by June next year, this initiative will aim in particular to implement the Carbon Offset and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), the pilot phase of which is due to start on 1 January 2021 (see EUROPE 12518/5).
Currently, the ETS does not apply to international flights outside the European Economic Area (EEA) (see EUROPE 11924/5).
In its roadmap published at the beginning of July (see EUROPE 12521/9), the Commission indicates that it is exploring several options: (1) extend the ETS to all flights to and from EEA airports by December 2023, as provided for in current European legislation ; (2) maintain the ETS only for intra-EEA flights; (3) replace the ETS by CORSIA, which would then cover all non-domestic flights (international and intra-EEA flights) ; (4) maintain the current ETS system and use CORSIA for all other flights.
Options (5) and (6), on the other hand, provide for a mix between the two systems.
The consultation is open until 14 January 2021.
To access the public consultation: https://bit.ly/38u7NPB (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)