Association of European Airlines representatives have criticised the deal covering aviation's introduction into the European Union emissions trading scheme as having "grave implications" for the European industry.
While backing emissions trading as a preferred solution, airline bodies have been lobbying hard against the stricter terms sought by Parliament. They argue a punitive scheme could be the final straw for European carriers already battling record fuel costs.
AEA secretary general Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus says the political deal will have "grave implications" for the European industry but not necessarily beneficial ones for the environment.
"In agreeing a compromise between widely diverging positions, the Council, Commission and Parliament have solved a political dilemma," he says.
"But by pulling figures from a hat - such as an arbitrary 15% of permits to be purchased through auctioning - without any assessment of how they will affect the air transport system, the travelling public or the environment, they have opened a Pandora's Box of unintended and unwelcome consequences for employment, services to regions and Europe's international credibility.
"While other regions are considering ways of supporting the sector, with this proposal, Europe seems to be keen to penalise its aviation. It contains restrictive and punitive elements that will find no support in the rest of the world, although non-European airlines will be pleased to see this burden fall on the shoulders of their European competitors.
"The effect of this regulatory compromise will be to shift market share and greenhouse gas emissions from European carriers to their non-European rivals."
Source: Flight International
