Brussels, 29/05/2008 (Agence Europe) - There is no question of reducing the European Parliament's demands on the contribution of civil aviation to combating climate change. The Parliament's environment committee sent out his message loud and clear, in Brussels on 27 May, by adopting - by 54 votes to 4, with one abstention - its second reading recommendation on the draft directive of December 2006 which seeks to include civil aviation in the Community greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme (ETS).
Following the advice of their rapporteur Peter Liese (EPP-ED, Germany), the members of the committee re-introduced most of the 44 first reading amendments which the Council rejected in its common position (see EUROPE 9570).
MEPs thus call for all domestic and international flights to or from EU airports to be included in the ETS from 2011 (not 2012 as the Council wanted; the Commission proposed a one-year period of grace until 2012 for intercontinental flights).
The Parliamentary committee also calls for the cap on airline emissions to be lowered to 90% of the average emissions level from 2004 to 2006, which would mean a 10% reduction in emissions, while the Commission and Council want simply to stabilise emissions at 2004-2006 levels.
With regard to allocated quotas, MEPs believe that 25% should be put up for auction (they Council wants 90% of allowances to be allocated free of charge, with only 10% put up for auction). They also call for the percentage of traded allowances to be increased from 2013 (when the ETS is to be reviewed) according to the maximum level of auctioning in other ETS sectors.
At the risk of shocking the Council, jealously keeping its budgetary prerogatives and strict respect for the subsidiarity principle, MEPs, like the European Commission, believe that the revenue from the auctions should be earmarked for specific purposes relating to combating climate change. Thus, they recommend the funds channelled into: - research to improve efficiency in the aviation sector; - climate-friendly transport, such as buses and trains; - assistance to developing countries to help them adapt to climate change and reduce emissions. “It's about international credibility. The aim is not to swell national coffers but to eliminate global warming. It's hard to explain our initiative to our citizens if flights are a little more expensive and the money then disappears,” said Liese.
MEPs voted to exempt aeroplanes with a weight at take-off of less than 5.7 tonnes, UN humanitarian flights, flights of plans fighting fires and other emergency flights, police, Customs and armed forces aeroplanes from the scope of the ETS.
They are against the Council's call that flights transporting members of royal families, presidents, government ministers on official duty, who, MEPs say, should also play their part in paying the cost of climate change.
The vote in the Parliamentary committee was welcomed by environmental organisations like Friends of the Earth. They believe the air sector, “one of the fastest growing sources of carbon dioxide emissions in Europe”, has to pay its way. However, the vote was seen as extremist and “destructive for airlines” by the International Air Carrier Association (IACA).
The rapporteur says that implementing a European system is only a step towards a global system, but the European system can play an important role in linking this system to others, especially since the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has been taking about it for ten years without success.
The plenary session vote is scheduled for July. Despite the hard line taken by the environment committee, Liese hopes that a second reading agreement can be reached with the Council over the coming weeks. “The Slovenian Presidency is firmly committed. Council too. They know that if we fail it will send the wrong signal on the energy/climate change package. Because how can we hope to reach agreement before the European elections if we fail after 18 months of negotiations on aviation and the ETS?” he wondered. If no agreement is reached, the conciliation procedure will be inevitable, with the risk, he stressed that “we will not have time to consider the detail”. (A.N.)