On October 16th the European Commission proposed amending the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) so that aviation emissions would be covered for the part of flights that takes place in European regional airspace.

One of the key features of the revised ETS system resulting from this proposal would be as follows:

§  Flights to and from third countries are covered in proportion to their distance travelled within the EEA (with the exception of flights to and from least developed countries and low income countries that remain fully exempted).

The Commission would like to see the proposal agreed by the European Parliament and Council by March 2014 to provide clarity for aircraft operators, who would otherwise have to surrender allowances for their all emissions on flights in 2013 to and from third countries by 30 April 2014.

The full article is available HERE.