By Jeff Mason BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Aircraft taking off from
airports in the European Union should join the bloc's emissions
trading scheme to cut greenhouse gases that damage the environment,
the EU executive Commission proposed on Tuesday.
The European Commission said emissions trading was more
environmentally beneficial or cost effective than imposing taxes or
charges -- two other options the EU executive had considered in order
to enlist airlines in the fight against climate change.
"The boom in flying is bringing with it a rapid rise in greenhouse
gas emissions," said Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas in a
statement.
"Extending emissions trading to the aviation sector will limit
these emissions and ensure that aviation, like all other sectors,
contribute to reducing the harmful greenhouse gases. Through emission
trading, airlines will be able to do so at the least possible costs."
The EU scheme puts a limit on the amount of carbon dioxide, the
main gas blamed for global warming, that big polluters like power
plants can emit. Companies -- in this case airlines -- can buy more
rights to pollute if they overshoot their targets, or sell them if
they come in below the cap.
The Commission's position, which will be tailored into a formal
proposal, envisions the scheme covering emissions from both EU and
non-EU carriers that take off from a country within the 25-nation bloc
to another EU nation or elsewhere abroad.
"EU and non-EU carriers would be treated equally," it said.
The Commission said it wanted to strengthen other measures to curb
aviation emissions, including improving air traffic management and
working to "remove legal obstacles to the taxation of jet fuel."
EU member states and the European Parliament will respond to the
Commission's proposal before it formulates a draft law. Officials have
said aviation could enter the scheme as early as 2008, depending on
how long the legislative process takes.
Ticket prices may rise by up to 9 euros ($10.83) per return flight
as a result of the measures, making demand for flights grow at a
"slightly slower rate", the Commission said.
European airports and some major airlines -- including British
Airways -- have come out in favour of an inclusion in the system as a
better alternative to tax.
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