Is ‘mutual agreement’ being used as a sabotage tool?

[mailchimp_signup][/mailchimp_signup]At this month’s meeting in Canada of the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (Icao) environmental committee (Caep), a policy known as “mutual agreement” was proposed, whereby every country would have to agree for its aviation industry to be included in any emissions trading scheme.

The idea, if approved, would allow a country to withdraw its airlines from being bound by the rules of the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme, assuming aviation is in the ETS from 2011 as envisaged.

T&E policy officer João Vieira said: “Icao has persistently opposed attempts to make aviation pay its true price. The only thing it has appeared to accept is emissions trading, but now it is preventing even that from working. It’s effectively a sabotage manoeuvre.”

In a separate development, the Commission has published a regulatory package for EU airports, consisting of three papers: a draft directive on what airports can charge airlines for various services, and two communications covering safety, efficiency, capacity, and ground handling.

This news story is taken from the February 2007 edition of T&E Bulletin.