European Court airline emissions tax ruling rejected by US

The US has today rejected the European Court ruling that airline emissions taxes are legal. The US, Canada and China have been particularly vocal over the move by the EU to introduce an emissions tax for aviation.

Flights to and from the 27 EU countries will be taxed on their carbon emissions from the start of 2012. The US believes that the tax must be dealt with by the international aviation body (the International Civil Aviation Organisation), rather than by individual countries or blocks.

The State Department says, "Our message to the European Union has been very, very consistent: that there are mechanisms in international aviation in ICAO for addressing the question of greenhouse gas emissions and that's where these things should be talked about." The move also contravenes (according to the US) the open sky agreement, which allows free passage for airlines between the US and Europe.

From the start of the year, airline companies will also be subject to the Emissions Trading Scheme, which is already in place in many other industries. The delay in implementation for airlines has been down to stern opposition and also questions over the technicalities of implementation.

The European Court has hit back at the US by stating “[the EU system] infringes neither the principle of territoriality nor the sovereignty of third states, since the scheme is applicable to the operators only when their aircraft are physically in the territory of one of the member states of the EU"