CapitolWire December 2012

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CapitolWire

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Contact: Thomas Fischer thomas.fischer@bertelsmann-stiftung.de (+32 2) 280.2830 www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/brussels

In the Air: International Aviation-Emissions Regulation CapitolWire is a joint publication of the Bertelsmann Foundation offices in Washington, DC and Brussels. It connects the European Parliament to Congressional policy and politics, and contributes to a common trans-Atlantic political culture. CapitolWire is an occasional publication that highlights issues, legislation and policymakers relevant to the European Parliament’s legislative cycle. This publication also looks at the Congress from the point of view of European Parliament staffers and offers timely operational analysis.

KEY POINTS • On November 27, 2012 US President Barack Obama signed into law The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011. The law grants the transportation secretary authority to prohibit US airlines from participating in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). • The EU granted to non-EU air carriers on November 13, 2012 a nearly yearlong exemption from complying with the EU ETS due to increased pressure from the US and International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) members. • However, if the ICAO fails to reach an international agreement on aviation emissions in 2013, the EU maintains that it will incorporate non-EU carriers into the EU ETS. The EU introduced aviation into its emissions trading system (ETS) in 2008. It became an international point of contention in January 2012 as ETS requirements went into effect for all incoming and outgoing commercial flights at EU airports, regardless of carrier nationality and time spent in EU airspace.

The House and Senate then approved additional bipartisan bills consistent with Section 509 language. The Senate unanimously passed S. 1956 The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act of 2011, sponsored by Senator John Thune, on September 22, 2012, just prior to recessing for elections. After the November ballot, the House voted on the Senate version rather than a more nationalistic version that passed the lower chamber in October 2011. S. 1956 passed the House on November 13, one day after Connie Hedegaard, EU commissioner for climate action, announced a

The Bertelsmann Foundation is a private, nonpartisan operating foundation, working to promote and strengthen trans-Atlantic cooperation. Serving as a platform for open dialogue among key stakeholders, the Foundation develops practical policy recommendations on issues central to successful development of both sides of the ocean. ©Copyright 2012, Bertelsmann Foundation. All rights reserved.

©Copyright 2010, Bertelsmann Foundation. All rights reserved.

DECEMBER 2012

The global aviation industry and many governments have expressed opposition to the inclusion of non-EU air carriers. ICAO members, including the US, signed a declaration in 2011 to this effect. In February 2012, Congress passed its first legislation with

EU ETS prohibition language. Section 509 of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (P.L. 112-95) expressed the “sense of Congress”, a majority Congressional opinion, not public law, that implementing the international aviation provisions of the EU ETS is inconsistent with the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation. The legislation urged the EU to work within the ICAO to develop a consensual approach, and it directed US government officials to ensure that the ETS is not applied to US air carriers.


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