ERA welcome EC official's carbon trading comments
11.04.08
The European Regions Airline Association (ERA) has welcomed comments by a senior official with the the European Commission, who said that aviation’s inclusion in the EU’s emissions trading scheme (ETS) must not be accompanied by further environmental taxes on European aviation, such as air passenger duty in the UK.
Speaking at the ERA Regional Airline Conference this week, Olivier Onidi, the EC’s Head of Internal Market, Air Transport and Multilateral Relations, said that the Commission is opposed to further costs, such as the environmental taxes introduced in the UK and Holland, being imposed on aviation in the name of environmentalism, whether on a European or national level. He told delegates: ‘We do not believe more costs should be imposed on airlines to achieve the same effect as the ETS.'
ERA Director General Mike Ambrose welcomed the comments. He said: ‘We are delighted to hear this common sense point of view. ETS should be a final solution, not a partial measure. Emissions trading should be designed as the sole economic tool to deal with the environmental consequences of aviation. Airlines should not have to pay additional costs as well under a different name.’
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