Negotiators from the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union on the ‘aviation’ section of the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) will meet on Tuesday 6 December for a third round of interinstitutional negotiations (‘trilogues’). But many issues remain open due to divisions among co-legislators, says a document from the Czech EU Council Presidency, obtained by EUROPE.
According to the paper, the scope of application is one of the most divisive issues.
While the European Commission and the EU Council want to apply the ETS to all flights within the European Economic Area (EEA) and, from 2027, to flights from/to countries not applying CORSIA (‘Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation’), the Parliament’s position extends the scope of the ETS to all flights departing from the EEA and, potentially, to flights arriving in the EEA after 2027 (see EUROPE 12967/4).
In addition, MEPs removed the exemption for flights to and from least developed countries and small island developing states.
The co-legislators also remain divided on the issue of phasing out free emission allowances for the aviation sector. The Parliament plans to end free allowances for the aviation sector by 2025, 2 years ahead of the timetable proposed by the Commission and the EU Council, and proposes an accelerated 50% reduction in free allowances from 2024.
“From the Presidency’s point of view, any earlier phasing-out of free allowances should be conditional to the resolution of the scope issue”, the Czech document says.
See the Czech Presidency document: https://aeur.eu/f/4hj (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)