EU and US to square up over air pollution
By Honor Mahony
The EU is set to put itself on a collision course with the US later this month when it announces long-expected plans to include the aviation sector in its pollution-reducing scheme.
Washington is waiting to see if the European Commission includes the controversial idea of imposing the scheme on all flights using European airports, including American carriers, rather than just limiting the scheme to European domestic flights.
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Under the plans, to be revealed by environment commissioner Stavros Dimas on 20 December, there will be a cap on CO2 emissions meaning airlines would get a certain number of pollution allowances each year.
If they use up their allowances they would be obliged to buy carbon credits from other airlines – pushing the prices up for consumers who will in effect be directly paying for the damage flying does to the environment.
An impact study carried out by the commission suggested ticket costs could rise by up to €40 for long-haul flights.
The commission argues that if action is not taken now aviation emissions could be 150percent above levels in 1990 by 2012 – with the airline sector the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissions following the rise of cheap airlines offering rock-bottom ticket prices.
Legal battle?
But the US has indicated it is gearing up for a legal battle, fighting for an industry that has been feeling the pinch since the 11 September terrorist attacks in 2001 and most recently the alleged plot to blow up transatlantic flights from London.
"We think this will violate trade rules," James Connaughton, chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said last week, according to AP.
"It's also not a smart way to find your way to efficiency in the aviation (industry)," he said. "The aviation sector has already made dramatic progress in becoming more fuel efficient because they have to. It costs a lot of money to fly people around."
Washington believes a blanket move by the EU to cover all airlines using European airports would contravene the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation - the aviation sector's de-facto constitution.
But Jos Dings, director of the European Federation for Transport and Environment, believes it is a bluff.
Quadrupling the effect
"The US does not have a legal point," says Mr Dings, adding if the EU were to impose its measures only in Europe it would itself breach the convention which stipulates that measures must be applied to all countries equally.
On top of this, only including flights within Europe would mean 55-60 megatonnes of carbon would fall under the scheme, which is "not a lot", according to Mr Dings. Extending the scheme to all flights to and from Europe would almost quadruple the range to 250 megatonnes.
Mr Dimas has indicated the EU will stay tough on this issue. Speaking last week, he said the commission had looked into the legal implications and that it thinks its plans are "compatible" with the International Air Transport Association's rules.
He also said he did not think the US would be successful in stopping the EU from including aviation in the carbon emissions trading scheme.