Aviation "in EU ETS by 2010" says Dimas

Carbon dioxide emissions from air travel will be included in the EU’s full carbon trading scheme (ETS) from 2010, half way through its second phase, according to the European commission.

On Thursday, environment commissioner Stavros Dimas promised legislative proposals by the end of the month.  He said that all flights entering and leaving EU territory would have to be covered by allowances under the system.

In July, the European parliament urged the commission to instead establish a stand-alone trading system for aviation as a first step to including the sector in the ETS.  MEPs fear that air travel could have a distorting effect on the existing trading system, that could harm "less protected" industries (EED 04/07/06).