The European Commission’s plan could exempt long-haul flights from new emissions rules
The EU is developing plans to require airlines to track and report their contribution to climate change from January 2025 (Photo: Shutterstock)
The European Commission has drawn up plans to initially exempt long-haul flights from rules on monitoring their non-CO2 emissions after international airlines lobbied for an opt-out, according to documents seen by Reuters.
The EU is developing plans to require airlines to monitor and report their contribution to climate change from January 2025 – not just from carbon dioxide, but also from soot, nitrogen oxides and water vapour.
According to the EU’s aviation safety authority, airlines’ non-CO2 emissions contribute at least as much to global warming as their CO2 emissions.
A draft Commission proposal for the new rules, seen by Reuters, would exclude international flights – defined by the EU as flights departing from or landing in Europe from non-European destinations – from emissions disclosure rules for two years, leaving these will be limited to flights within Europe until 2027.
“Such reporting is only required in relation to routes involving two aerodromes in the European Economic Area,” the report said, adding that it would also include flights from the EEA to Switzerland or Great Britain.
No reason for the exclusion was given. The exemption reflects current EU rules that require airlines to disclose and pay fees for their CO2 emissions produced on flights only within Europe, although those rules will be reassessed in 2026.
The proposed new rules have divided the sector.
Lobby group the International Air Transport Association has sought an exemption for long-haul flights, while low-cost European airlines Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air say all flights – including long-haul international travel – should be included.
“The blanket exclusion of routes outside the EEA would give the misleading impression that these routes do not cause non-CO2 warming effects, thereby misdirecting any future non-CO2 mitigation measures,” the airlines said in a joint statement sent to the EU governments has spread.
IATA has said it is not currently possible to accurately monitor a flight’s non-CO2 emissions, and that EU requirements for monitoring emissions should be voluntary and exclude international flights.
“Any intention to extend the scope to international flights outside the EU would raise legal concerns,” IATA Director General Willie Walsh said in a letter to the European Commission in April, seen by Reuters.
The European Commission did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
First print: June 19, 2024 | 2:49 PM IST