A preliminary deal on a law that will exempt long-haul flights from paying for carbon emissions until 2016 is reported to have been reached yesterday.
EU sources said negotiators from the European Parliament, the Commission, the EU executive, and the EU presidency, representing member states, had tentatively agreed that an existing suspension of EU law for intercontinental flights should be extended, The Guardian reported.
EU diplomatic sources said the deal would maintain a suspension of the law for intercontinental flights until 2016, with a provision to revert back to making all aviation pay for allowances in 2017 if a global deal on curtailing aviation emissions cannot be agreed.
A meeting of EU diplomats representing member states is expected to debate the agreement and possibly endorse it on Friday.
If confirmed, it would be a further weakening of the bloc’s stance following immense international pressure and threats of a trade war.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation agreed in October to deliver a global plan to curb airline emissions by 2016 for implementation in 2020.
The commission’s response was to propose amended legislation, only charging aircraft for emissions in EU airspace, rather than for the entire flight.
That prompted international criticism however, and leading EU members the UK, France and Germany proposed it should be scrapped, paving the way for Tuesday’s watered-down deal.