European Court rules ALL airlines to pay dirty tax
All airlines flying to and from Europe will have to pay a dirty tax from January 1, the European Court of Justice ruled today.
It upheld a decision by the European Union to include all international airlines in its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which will force carriers to pay for any carbon dioxide emissions above an agreed limit.
The decision is highly controversial as including non-EU airlines in the ETS has been strongly opposed by economic powers worldwide, who say it flies in the face of their sovereignty and that control of airlines' CO2 emissions should be left to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Under ETS, airlines will be given credits to cover the majority of their emissions, but they will have to buy credits to cover the remainder of their CO2 output.
Other industries are already involved in the ETS, which is the EU's attempt to combat climate change, and all airlines operating within the 27 member states will be included for the first time on January 1.
European airlines fear the decision could lead to other countries imposing taxes and further restrictions on their operations overseas in retaliation for the tax. The US said it goes against the EU-US open-skies agreement and on Friday, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said America would respond with "appropriate action" if the scheme went ahead.
However, Europe's highest court has refused to bow to pressure from the US, insisting that the ETS did not infringe on the sovereignty of other nations as it only applied to carriers when they were operating within the EU.
The court issued a statement saying: "Application of the emissions trading scheme to aviation infringes neither the principles of customary international law at issue nor the Open Skies Agreement."
By Linsey McNeill
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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