The design to include aviation into the EU ETS was agreed by the European Council and Parliament this summer and will apply to all flights to/from/within the EU from 2012.The auctioning percentage was set at 15% while the cap on aviation emissions was fixed at 95% based on 2004-2006 emissions, with a review in 2015.

However, the ENVI Committee has taken the revision of the main ETS directive to amend this agreement and make aviation subject to further changes. It voted to increase auctioning from 20% in 2013 rising to 100% in 2020.It also voted to reduce the cap annually by a linear reduction factor from 2013.

Mrs Lust continued:

“The regime for including aviation in the EU ETS was adopted only three months ago as a result of a political compromise. The re-opening of the debate on aviation ETS is not serious and creates a high level of financial and legal uncertainty for airlines.By increasing what is already a punitive auctioning amount of 15% in 2012 to 100% in 2020 adds insult to injury to an industry that is facing severe difficulties.”

“Aviation continues to come off worse in this questionable institutional process.The fact that these changes are not supported by an impact assessment nor justified on the basis of experience highlights the arbitrary nature of the whole process.”

“In today's difficult climate, it is more important than ever that aviation continues to provide employment, connectivity between Europe's member states and helps to sustain economic growth.For these vital reasons, we urge the Council to see reason and stick to what was agreed to in the summer.We look forward to hearing the outcomes of their discussion at the end of the month”.