EU revives airline carbon tax proposal

BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The European Union’s executive branch on Wednesday proposed taxing airlines for emissions made while crossing European airspace, revising a controversial plan the EU had to back down from last year.

Under the new European Commission proposal, airlines using EU airspace could be subject to a tax for air-polluting carbon emissions on the portion of a flight that crosses the European Economic Area.

The new proposal is an amended version of the EU’s ill-fated CO2 Emissions Trading Scheme for intercontinental flights, which the EU suspended last year after a flurry of protests from emerging countries, airlines and aircraft builders that raised fears of a trade war.

The EU’s new plan would apply from the beginning of 2014 until the ICAO regulations take effect, the European Commission said.

Flights to and from developing countries that generate less than 1 percent of global aviation emissions would receive a full exemption.