AEA condemns the European Parliament Environment Committee’s rejection of the deal on aviation ETS

This afternoon, the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee of the European Parliament (EP) rejected the provisional trilogue agreement on how to amend the scope of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for aviation. The deal was reached on 4 March after intense negotiations between the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission. This file will now be put to a vote at the EP’s Plenary session in April.

“The ENVI result is most worrying” says Athar Husain Khan, AEA’s CEO. “ENVI today missed the chance to provide clarity on the way forward for the aviation ETS. If the trilogue agreement is not formally adopted before 30 April, the full ETS would be applicable. Given the international controversy around the aviation ETS that we have witnessed during the past years, we believe that a full ETS is not a realistic option and that it would have a negative impact on European airlines, their operations and their employees. Moreover, this move would put at risk the agreement reached during the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s Assembly last year and undermine the efforts to reach a global deal on reducing emissions from international aviation.”

AEA therefore calls upon the Plenary of the EP to endorse the trilogue outcome.