The European Union is set to agree a compromise on plans to charge airlines under its highly contentious Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
The EU’s original proposal to charge all airlines flying to Europe ran into opposition last year from the world’s major non-EU nations including the US, Russia, China and India.
According to multiple press reports, the EU is now willing to water down its proposals by only charging airlines for the miles they cover within EU airspace instead of the entire journey.
The change is being proposed as part of an agreement with the UN’s ICAO which is looking into the creation of a worldwide solution to charging airlines for their carbon emissions.
Under the compromise, ICAO has agreed to put together a global scheme, which will be implemented from 2020, with the EU restricting the scope of ETS until then. The deal has to be approved at ICAO’s meeting in Montreal later this month and by European politicians
The EU has already started charging airlines making flights between airports within Europe under ETS, despite strong opposition from carriers.
Europe had provoked a series of potential trade wars with plans to implement ETS fully from January 1, 2012, but it backed down in November last year when it gave the ICAO one year to come up with a strategy for creating a global emissions plan for the aviation industry.