The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report byPeter LIESE (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community, in view of the implementation by 2020 of an international agreement applying a single global market-based measure to international aviation emissions.
The committee recommended that the position of the European Parliament adopted in first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
International approach: the report stressed that climate protection initiatives should be taken quickly as global problems of the kind posed by aviation emissions could be most effectively addressed by means of an international approach that included an obligation to comply with the same measures or to achieve the same objectives using different measures.
Members felt that a global agreement at the ICAO offers the best prospects of ensuring sustainability in the long term.
Legal position after 2016: Members recalled that the Commission proposed to amend the Emissions Trading System so that emissions from aviation would be covered for the part of the flight which took place in European airspace. The amendment would apply from 1 January 2014 until global market-based measure (MBM) became applicable to international aviation emissions from now to 2020.
Members recommend temporarily considering the requirements set out in Directive 2003/87/EC as satisfied for the period until 2016, when obligations are met in respect of a certain percentage of the emissions from flights to and from aerodromes in third countries.
They stated that the current derogations would only apply until 2016, and the next ICAO Assembly. Following the ICAO conclusions in 2016 and results achieved, the Union could consider what further steps needed to be made to reflect the outcome of the international negotiations.
Accordingly, the Commission should report annually to the European Parliament and the Council on the progress of the negotiations and preparations leading up to the 2016 ICAO Assembly as well as on the Commission's efforts to promote the international acceptance of the airspace approach among third countries.
Revenues generated from the auctioning of allowances: Member States shall use revenues generated from the auctioning of allowances for efforts to tackle climate change, in particular at international level, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to the impact of climate change in developing countries as well as to fund research and development for mitigation and adaptation including, in particular, in the field of aeronautics and air transport.
Revenues generated from auctioning should also be used on low-emission transport. The proceeds of auctioning should also be used to fund contributions to the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund and the Green Climate Fund under UNFCCC as well as measures to avoid deforestation.
Flights between the outermost regions and the EEA mainland: the report stated that these flights should also follow the regional market based approach. The percentages should be calculated by Eurocontrol on the basis of the proportion of the Great Circle Distance between the main airports in the EEA mainland and in the outermost region that is not more than 12 miles beyond the furthest point of EEA mainland until a global market-based measure enters into force.