NGOs urge EU governments to take action over EU ETS enforcement against non-compliant foreign airlines

European environmental NGOs have formally requested German, Dutch and British authorities responsible for administering the Aviation EU ETS to take necessary action against airlines that failed to comply with the carbon scheme in 2012. The NGOs name airlines Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Air India, Jet Airways, Saudia and Aeroflot as not having submitted carbon permits to cover their intra-European flights that year by the 30 April 2013 deadline. Facing international opposition, the EU temporarily suspended a requirement for airlines to report emissions from intercontinental flights to and from Europe in 2012 under the ‘Stop the Clock’ derogation.  Carriers regardless of nationality were still required to comply with the scheme for flights carried out within Europe. The NGOs point out that offenders gain a competitive advantage over compliant airlines if the regulations are not enforced equally and consistently. The NGOs say  “It makes no sense and undermines the EU’s position internationally to enforce the ETS partially or in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.” EU countries must enforce compliance with the ETS in a consistent and fair manner.
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NGOs urge EU governments to take action over EU ETS enforcement against non-compliant foreign airlines

Fri 28 Feb 2014  (GreenAir online)

European environmental NGOs have formally requested German, Dutch and British authorities responsible for administering the Aviation EU ETS to take necessary action against airlines that failed to comply with the carbon scheme in 2012.

The NGOs name airlines Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Air India, Jet Airways, Saudia and Aeroflot as not having submitted carbon permits to cover their intra-European flights that year by the 30 April 2013 deadline.

Facing international opposition, the EU temporarily suspended a requirement for airlines to report emissions from intercontinental flights to and from Europe in 2012 under the ‘Stop the Clock’ derogation in order to allow progress towards an ICAO agreement on a global market-based measure.

However, carriers regardless of nationality were still required to comply with the scheme for flights carried out within Europe. The NGOs point out that offenders gain a competitive advantage over compliant airlines if the regulations are not enforced equally and consistently.

The NGOs – Transport & Environment (T&E), Aviation Environment Federation, Natuur en Milieu and BUND – question whether a global plan will be agreed or if it is, whether it will have a meaningful impact, and say the European scheme is the only international measure in place to address aviation emissions. “It makes no sense and undermines the EU’s position internationally to enforce the ETS partially or in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner,” they said in a statement.

Added T&E’s Aviation Manager Bill Hemmings: “It’s scandalous that almost a year after foreign airlines failed to comply with the ETS, governments haven’t enforced the EU law. No enforcement means offenders gain a competitive advantage over those that did play by the rules and foreign governments receive a signal that complying with EU law is voluntary for foreigners. So EU countries must enforce compliance with the ETS in a consistent and fair manner, whether the operator concerned is a flag carrier of a state opposing the EU’s measure, a small regional operator or a business jet.”

EU politicians have voiced their own displeasure over those airlines that have refused to comply with the one-year intra-EEA scope of the EU ETS legislation. Negotiations are currently taking place between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Council, representing EU member states, over next steps for the scheme. The parties entered the trilogue discussions with different positions – member states wanting to continue with a modified ‘Stop the Clock’ scope and the Commission and Parliament pushing for a widening of the scope to include emissions from all flights taking place in EEA airspace.

Parliament representatives are keen to extract concessions in exchange for bowing to member state pressure. One such demand is that states take immediate action over all non-compliant aircraft operators, regardless of the political sensitivities of handing out penalties to the airlines of countries such as India and China, which have forbidden their carriers to comply with the scheme. The Parliament’s rapporteur on the legislation, German MEP Peter Liese, has threatened to derail the trilogue negotiations if EU states do not take sufficient steps on enforcement. The Commission has powers to take to court EU states that do not enforce compliance.

Last week the EU adminstering authorities, in a coordinated effort, are believed to have sent out enforcement notices to non-compliant offenders but have not disclosed to which airlines these notices were sent  (see article).

Link:

NGO statement (see below)

http://www.greenaironline.com/news.php?viewStory=1830

 

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Environmentalists urge governments to make foreign airlines pay for pollution in Europe

February 27, 2014 (Transport & Environment)

Green NGOs [1]  – T&E, FoE, AEF etc – see below–  have made formal requests to the Emissions Trading System (ETS) enforcement authorities in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK to take all necessary enforcement actions against airlines that failed to comply with the ETS in 2012.

According to the EU ETS registry monitoring compliance, foreign carriers including Air China, China Eastern, China Southern, Air India, Jet Airways, Saudia Airlines and Aeroflot-Russian Airlines have not submitted carbon permits to cover emissions for their intra-EU flights in 2012. While these few foreign airlines failed to comply with the EU emissions law, air operators responsible for over 98% of all aviation emissions under the system did comply [2].

The deadline for submitting carbon allowances for emissions for 2012 was 30 April 2013. Carriers that fail to comply effectively operate at a competitive advantage against those that do. EU countries with responsibility for enforcement (different carriers are responsible to different administrations) are required to follow varying procedures to ensure compliance but, in general, compliance has been due since 30 April last year.

Bill Hemmings, aviation manager at Transport & Environment, said: “It’s scandalous that almost a year after foreign airlines failed to comply with the ETS, governments haven’t enforced the EU law. No enforcement means offenders gain a competitive advantage over those that did play by the rules and foreign governments receive a signal that complying with EU law is voluntary for foreigners. So EU countries must enforce compliance with the EU ETS in a consistent and fair manner whether the operator concerned is a flag carrier of a state opposing the EU’s measure, a small regional operator or a business jet.”

The European Commission has the power to take to court EU countries that don’t enforce European laws.

Aviation is the most carbon-intensive transport mode, responsible for about 5% of global warming. If aviation were a country it would be ranked 7th in the world for CO2 emissions – between Germany and Korea. EU aviation emissions, a third of global totals, have doubled since 1990 and will triple by 2050 if unchecked.

The European Union expresses full support for efforts now underway in ICAO, the UN’s aviation body, to finally agree a global plan to address aviation emissions. But it is far from assured that such a plan will indeed be agreed, and if it is, whether it will have a meaningful impact. The only international measure actually in place is the EU ETS. It makes no sense and undermines the EU’s position internationally to enforce the ETS partially or in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

[1] The environmental NGOs are a pan-European network of sustainable transport campaigners: Transport & Environment, Aviation Environment Federation (UK), Natuur en Milieu (the Netherlands) and BUND (Friends of the Earth – Germany).

[2] Sandbag, Aviation and the ETS: What happened in 2012 during ‘Stop the Clock’? Available at: www.sandbag.org.uk/site_media/pdfs/reports/Sandbag_Aviation_and_the_EU_ETS_2012_171213_1.pdf

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Some recent news about aviation in the EU ETS

 

Aircraft operators hit with ETS non-compliance penalty as EU states send out enforcement notices

February 24, 2014

As part of the process of enforcing payments for carbon emissions by airlines in the ETS, notices have been sent to airlines and business jet operators that failed to comply with regulations in 2012. It is understood that one Europe-based commercial business jet owner has received a penalty from the UK authorities of some half a million euros for failing to surrender the required number of allowances by the 30 April 2013 deadline. The main EU countries (UK, German, France etc) have responsibility as Competent Authorities (CAs) for sending notices for non-compliance on the airlines of selected countries. Member states have an obligation to issue fines of €100 for every tonne of CO2 an aircraft operator fails to submit an allowance to cover. The various Member States have taken different approaches, with some countries more assiduous than others. Some EU authorities are faced with enforcing penalties on Chinese, Indian and Russian operators that carried out intra-European flights in 2012 but failed to comply with the EU ETS ‘Stop the Clock’ regime. The “Stop the Clock” derogation during 2013 meant the obligation to report emissions from intercontinental flights to and from Europe were temporarily suspended. EU states are under pressure to act from EU politicians unhappy at what they see as ‘feet-dragging’ over enforcing compliance. More detail from GreenAir online.     Click here to view full story…

 

Sandbag blog: Aviation in the ETS – still no deal

February 20, 2014

If EU governments have kept their word, letters should now be landing on the doormats of the airlines across the world who haven’t complied with the ETS. This last minute notice of penalties for non-compliant airlines is a desperate last minute attempt to show that EU laws will be applied when airlines operate in Europe. Sandbag say that though the EU data is sketchy, a number of airlines, including China Eastern and Air India, were missing from EU records, despite the law saying they should pay for their CO2 when they flew from one EU airport to another (the UK won’t currently confirm who isn’t compliant). Now the proposals for a change to the scheme are in trialogue discussion between the three pillars of the EU government, the Commission, the Parliament and the Council. MEP Peter Liese, who is leading the ETS proposals, has said he is willing to compromise further, and allow the current limited scheme to continue for 2 more years. This unsatisfactory and weak position suits EU member states afraid of confrontation or trade wars with China, India etc. Peter Liese wants EU member states to agree that the ETS should revert to full coverage (not only within Europe as at present) in 2016.    Click here to view full story…

 

 

EU’s aviation emissions ETS law ‘puts Europe’s global power to the test’, MEPs say

January 27, 2014

Euractiv reports that members of the European Parliament and industry representatives say the ETS for aviation is rapidly turning into a “political question of the EU’s influence on the world stage”. There will be a key vote by the European Parliament’s environment committee on 30th January. The Parliament’s rapporteur on aviation ETS, Peter Liese MEP, has threatened to block the EU’s efforts to amend the existing legislation if the EC does not mention which countries have undermined the ETS so far. There remain foreign carriers operating intra-EU flights without paying their ETS share, including Air China (Athens – Munich) and China Eastern (Frankfurt – Hamburg) and even intra-German ones. Airbus stakeholder states – the UK, France and Germany – have surrendered to “economic blackmail” from China, which threatened to no longer buy Airbus planes if the EU carried on with its legislation. Peter Liese is pushing the EC to shorten its current 2020 deadline and revert to a full-scope ETS from 2016, if no agreement on global measures is found in ICAO. T&E commented that “Pursuing anything less than coverage of emissions in EU airspace is environmentally unacceptable. At the same time, not enforcing the existing ETS sends a clear signal to third countries that EU sovereignty doesn’t matter and it won’t advance efforts to secure agreement on global measures either.”    Click here to view full story…

 

 

More problems for aviation in the EU ETS as France and Germany will not enforce sanctions for non- compliance

January 24, 2014

German centre-right MEP Peter Liese, the European Parliament’s environment committee rapporteur, wants the European Parliament to refuse to ratify proposed changes to the law on the ETS unless member states start enforcing the existing law. He is supported in this by both the environmental groups, who want better control of aviation carbon emissions, and from a very different perspective, the European Low Fare Airlines Association, which fears that if non-EU airlines are not forced to pay for carbon permits, while EU airlines are, they will be at a competitive disadvantage. Since the freeze (“stop the clock”) ended in October, the Commission proposed to change the legislation so that only the portions of flights taking place within EU airspace would be charged. But France, Germany and the UK are pushing to exempt until 2016 all emissions from any flight that enters or leaves EU airspace. At present the EU is not charging foreign airlines for the flights they operate within EU airspace. These flights are mostly American and Chinese. Liese wants the Parliament to withhold its backing until the regulators start punishing the foreign airlines for not paying their ETS charges. And to do it before May – Germany and France don’t want to do this.     Click here to view full story…

 

and more EU ETS news at