In 2004, greenhouse gas emissions from the EU's share of international aviation were 7.5% up on 2003. The cumulative growth of aviation CO2 emissions amounts to 87% since 1990, in stark contrast to the EU's overall greenhouse gas reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol, which is 8%.
The Environment Committee report was approved with 50 votes in favour, none against and one abstention.
All flights to be covered by 2010
The ETS should cover flights between the EU and third countries, as well as intra-EU ones, by 2010, said the committee. (The Commission had proposed that the scheme should cover all intra-EU flights as of 2011, but that flights between the EU and third-country airports should come under its scope only as of 2012). As rapporteur Peter Liese (EPP-ED, DE) commented earlier, "It is difficult to explain that a flight from the UK to Morocco is not covered by the scheme while a flight from the UK to the Canary Islands [would] be covered."
The ETS allocates a number of permits to operators, each giving them the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide per year. So the total number of permits sets a limit on the overall emissions from participants in the scheme. While some permits are allocated to operators free of charge, others are traded freely (auctioned) so as to allow emission reductions to be made where they are most cost-effective. While the Commission proposed no specific values for the number of permits to be auctioned, MEPs did so, deciding on an initial figure of 50%.
Lastly, whereas the Commission sought to exempt government flights from the scheme, Committee members - taking the line that governments ought to be setting an example - deleted the exemption.
