Court opinion reinforces EU's right to tackle greenhouse gases from aviation

06 October 2011

[Brussels, October 6, 2011] - Today the European Court of Justice (ECJ)'s Advocate General [1] delivered her opinion against the complaint from a number of US airlines against the inclusion of international aviation in the European Union's Emission Trading System (ETS) from 2012 onwards. Today’s opinion confirmed that the EU ETS is compatible with international law. CAN Europe [2] welcomes the overall support for the EU’s decision to take action to tackle growing greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation.  

“Given the complete lack of progress in the negotiations on this issue in the International Civil Aviation Association (ICAO) and the urgent need for action, we fully endorse the EU’s approach to include aviation in their regional trading scheme,” said Wendel Trio, Director of CAN Europe.

Today’s opinion confirms that now is not the time for backtracking on reducing dangerous greenhouse gases. CAN Europe calls upon governments to increase efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ALL sources and agrees that reducing emissions from international aviation and shipping is urgently needed.

“In the wake of this positive opinion, the EU can carry on its efforts to reduce dangerous emissions from international aviation,” Trio added.

CAN Europe also urges all 27 EU member states to ensure that a fair part of the revenues raised through the auctioning of emission permits be dedicated to climate action, both domestically and in developing countries. 

Editor’s Notes:

[1] The Advocate General’s opinion will inform the final decision on this case in the ECJ at a later date. 

[2] CAN Europe is recognised as Europe’s leading network working on climate and energy issues. Representing over 150 organisations and over 5 million citizens throughout Europe, CAN-Europe unites to work to prevent dangerous climate change and promote sustainable energy and environment policy in Europe.