Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-07-03-Speech-1-142"
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"en.20060703.18.1-142"2
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"Mr President, whether one accepts Mrs Lucas’s figure of 4.1 million jobs or the Association of European Airlines’ figure of 7.5 million jobs directly dependent on air transport, we must agree that the aviation industry contributes very significantly to European employment and growth.
Air transport is vital to the EU’s economy, accounting for up to 8% of GDP, boosting productivity, attracting investment and encouraging tourism. Air transport has become an integral part of society, allowing us to travel long distances quickly, but also strengthening Europe’s integration, prosperity and political importance. Aviation facilitates social cohesion and cultural exchange. Strategically, air transport is of critical importance, particularly for peripheral regions and islands such as Ireland.
It is easy to exaggerate the contribution from aviation to the present problem of climate change, and emissions from all transport sectors are of concern to the air quality issue and the climate change debate, which is the number one item on every environment agenda. We should not be singling out aviation and ignoring shipping and the considerably greater impact from increasing road transport and car usage.
In 2003, total emissions from flights into and out of the EU 25 Member States contributed 3.4% of CO2 emissions, which was equivalent to 0.5% of worldwide emissions in this area. Air transport is treated differently under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in terms of how its greenhouse gas emissions are accounted for. It is not directly included in the Kyoto Protocol.
While we should acknowledge the advances made by the European aviation industry’s voluntary initiative, the Emissions Containment Policy, with EU air traffic movements set to double by 2020 over the 2003 level, the real question is whether, on the basis of the polluter pays principle, this voluntary initiative will be adequate to counteract rising emissions from air transport. Do we need legislation?
Interestingly, a recent House of Lords report on aviation’s contribution to climate change stated that it was insignificant and likely to remain so for 30 years. The industry itself claims that fuel efficiency, direct routing and new technology have already achieved a 70% reduction in aircraft emissions over the last 30 years and that air traffic management, improved holding patterns over airports, and replacement of older planes with state-of-the-art technology in fleet renewal could reduce climate-change impact even further as the number of flights increases each year.
An emissions trading scheme and auctioning rights are worth investigating, but, I ask the Commissioner, would a stand-alone or closed ETS for aviation not fall at the first hurdle, since all the trading entities would be net buyers and there would be no market? A possible solution, following a comprehensive impact assessment, would appear to be incorporation of aviation into a reviewed existing ETS, with the proviso that all flights landing and taking off in Europe must be included. This should ideally be part of a global solution, with industry and governments sitting down with the International Civil Aviation Organization, as Article 2(2) of the Kyoto Protocol suggests. Do not hold your breath.
Any economic instruments must have clear environmental objectives, rather than fiscal ones, and must be part of an overall package that addresses technological, operational and infrastructural improvements. An open skies agreement, reducing stacking and taxiing time through better air traffic control management and improved scheduling and coordination within a single European sky policy must all be part of a comprehensive policy mix."@en1
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