Commission proposes to ‘stop the clock’ on international aviation in the EU ETS pending 2013 ICAO General Assembly.

On Monday 12 November 2012 it was announced that the European Commission had proposed that the EU would defer the requirement for airlines to surrender emissions allowances for flights in to and out of Europe/European Economic Area until after the 2013 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) General Assembly next autumn.

‘Stopping the clock´ on the implementation of the international aspects of aviation under the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) would mean that Aircraft Operators would not be required to surrender allowances in April 2013 for emissions to and from the EU/EEA during 2012. The monitoring and reporting obligations would also be deferred for such flights. The obligations relating to all operators´activities within the EU/EEA will remain intact and compliance with the EU ETS legislation will be enforced in this respect.

The Environment Agency of Iceland recommends that aircraft operators keep in mind:

• As of now this is a proposal that has not yet been decided upon and tecnical aspects are not yet developed.
• The proposal only effects emissions from flights to and from EU/EEA during 2012
• Allowances for emissions from flights within the EU/EEA (including flights within Iceland and between Iceland and other EEA states) during 2012 shall be surrenderd in April 2013
• Emissions from flights within EU/EEA during 2012 shall be monitored and reported before March 31, 2013.

The Environment Agency of Iceland will provide further guidance once more detailed information has been received from the Commission on the substance of their proposal.

Further information:

• European Commission’s press release 
• Commissioner Hedergaard’s statement (video) 
• MEMO /12/854: Stopping the clock of ETS and aviation emissions following last week’s International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council