The European Union's executive arm approved plans to include aviation in its emissions trading system, giving international flights in and out of the EU a one-year reprieve before they have to join.
Intra-EU flights will join the scheme, aimed at cutting global air pollution, in 2011. Flights into and out of the bloc will be included the following year, giving non-EU carriers time to prepare and see how the scheme works.
The US quickly objected, arguing through an embassy spokesman that the EU was trying to circumvent the International Civil Aviation Organisation by proceeding on its own.
The quotas allowed for carriers will be equal to the average 2004-2006 emissions data.
"EU emissions from international air transport are increasing faster than from any other sector. This growth threatens to undermine the EU's progress in cutting overall greenhouse gas emissions," the Commission said in a statement." The EU emissions trading scheme - its key tool to battle global warming and meet Kyoto Protocol emissions reduction targets - puts a limit on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) big polluters such as power plants and oil refineries can emit.
But so far it had excluded aviation, a large and growing source of pollution as air travel booms. Now airlines, like companies already involved in the scheme, will be able to buy rights to pollute if they overshoot their targets or sell them if they come in below the cap.
The majority of the permits will be given away, but 10 per cent will be auctioned. Unlike in the current trading scheme, where member states set limits subject to the Commission's approval, the EU's executive will deal with the caps itself.
The original plan to include all flights from the start drew criticism from the airline industry and major trading partners, including the US, that the draft went beyond acceptable limits and effectively regulated non-EU carriers.
Times of Malta
