IACA and ERA : ETS ‘stop the clock proposal’ must be extended to ALL flights

After the European Parliament voted on 16^th April to support the ‘stop the clock’ proposal on the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) for aviation, ERA and IACA call for the moratorium to be extended to ALL flights departing and arriving at an EU airport to prevent discrimination against European carriers operating intra-EU flights.

The ETS moratorium, proposed by the European Commission in November, applies to all international flights to and from the EU operated in 2012 and allows ICAO time to find a global solution to mitigate emissions.  The full extent of the scheme will, however, remain in place for intra-EU flights.

Carriers operating these intra-EU flights are still obliged to comply with the law in full.  The ETS scheme will continue to impose cost and complexity on their European operations with little or no overall environmental benefit.  As a result, airlines will be financially impacted at different degrees depending on the proportion of the EU versus non-EU flights they operate.

IACA and ERA therefore refute the claim by Commissioner Hedegaard, in the debate before the vote, that “the principle of non-discrimination based on the nationality of operators has always been, and remains, a fundamental part of the EU’s position”, as the moratorium clearly creates discrimination.

Commenting on the outcome of the vote, Sylviane Lust, Director General of IACA and Simon McNamara, Director General of ERA, said:

“ While IACA and ERA support the concept of the ‘stop the clock’ proposal, the unfair two-tier system the European Parliament has voted for this week discriminates against carriers mainly operating intra-EU flights and penalises their passengers.

“IACA and ERA call for the ‘stop the clock’ proposal to be extended to ALL flights.”