In a letter sent on Monday 8 June to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Executive Vice-President Stéphane Séjourné, and Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič, 16 European airlines strongly oppose the extension of the scope of the Emissions Trading System (EU ETS or ‘ETS’) envisaged by the Commission in the review scheduled for 15 July.
“Expanding EU carbon pricing to extra-EEA flights will further penalise European passengers and businesses by increasing the cost of airfare and cargo”, they say.
The signatories argue for aligning ETS costs with those of the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), rather than extending the geographical scope of the ETS.
According to the organisation T&E, 68% of emissions generated by European flights were not taxed in 2025 because the scope of the ETS was limited to intra-European routes, and the effective price paid by airlines reached €23 per tonne of CO2 (compared with around €18 for CORSIA, according to the International Civil Aviation Organization in 2025).
Read the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/m80 (Original version in French by Nadège Delépine)