AIR TRANSPORT/ENVIRONMENT : AVIATION IN ETS: EUROPEAN AIRLINES DISAPPOINTED BY ENVI VOTE.

The Association of European Airlines (AEA) says it is "disappointed" by the position adopted by the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment (ENVI), which favours the airspace model for the application of the EU's Emissions Trading System (ETS) to the aviation sector. The AEA is inviting negotiators from the European Parliament, Council and Commissionato urgently find a solution that is in line with developments at international level, and that provides clear planning stability for airlines until 2020.

The AEA is disappointed that, unlike the Committees on Transport and Tourism (TRAN) and Industry (ITRE), ENVI has "ignored the global agreement reached at the International Civil Aviation Organisation's (ICAO) Assembly in autumn last year". It is "deeply concerned that ENVI has not taken into account the challenges that AEA member airlines are facing". It adds: "If the international controversy around the EU ETS continues, EU-registered airlines serving destinations beyond the EU could be exposed to retaliatory measures from third countries in their day-to-day operations and face obstacles to their business development. The only way to ensure the competitiveness of the European air transport industry is an ICAO-led solution".

In a report, adopted on 30 January (see Europolitics 4799), the ENVI committee...