Fuldstændigt Forhandlingsreferat

Tirsdag den 12. december 2017 - Strasbourg

6.2. EU's emissionshandelssystem (EU ETS): at videreføre de nuværende begrænsninger af anvendelsesområdet for luftfartsaktiviteter og forberede gennemførelsen af en global markedsbaseret foranstaltning fra 2021 (A8-0258/2017 - Julie Girling)

Ustne wyjaśnienia dotyczące głosowania

  Diane James (NI). – Mr President, I voted against this. I voted against it because, in reality, the Emissions Trading System (ETS) has been an absolute, complete failure. Now, it is a very good report. I am not criticising the author; I am criticising the aspect that the ETS system is fundamentally flawed. It has got little to do with lowering emissions. It is designed to raise revenue as a stealth tax, and it is also designed as a protectionist measure. The net effect of the proposed changes to the ETS in aviation policy will mean more taxes on tourists, more taxes on business travellers, and it will push up the price of imports. That helps European Union-based manufacturers and farmers, but ultimately does not help the aviation sector.

  Seán Kelly (PPE). – Mr President, I was pleased to vote in favour of this report. Up until last year, obstacles were continually posed by third countries to European legislation being applicable to their airlines, and this was to the extent that aviation had never been applied to the emissions trading system (ETS) in its original scope.

EU provisions on flights between the EU and third countries have been suspended twice with a view to encouraging the International Civil Aviation Organization process to agree on a global strategy to decrease aviation emissions. It is imperative that we take measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions, particularly from international aviation. This is essential to keep global warming below the two degrees above pre-industrial levels as agreed in the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change, where I had the honour of representing this Parliament.

As the international aviation sector is a rapidly developing source of greenhouse gas emissions, this report marks a welcome step in Parliament’s work on the EU ETS, and I support the progress on the same.