8 Chinese, 2 Indian airlines defy EU carbon tax, 1,200 carriers comply
2012 05 18
- Details
EIGHT Chinese and two Indian airlines have defied the EU carbon tax scheme requiring that they submit emissions data for entire flights and not just over European airspace, reports Reuters.
Penalties start at EUR100 (US$127) per tonne of carbon airlines fail to pay for, while the cost of compliance is estimated at EUR2 per passenger for a flight from Shanghai to Frankfurt, says the EU.
The European Union's Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said 1,200 airlines have submitted to the tax. But 20 countries have grouped themselves into a "coalition of the unwilling", meeting in Moscow to consider retaliation, saying they would meet again in Saudi Arabia at an unspecified date.
"You cannot enforce laws outside your sovereign area. The implications are huge," Indian Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh told Reuters.
But Ms Hedegaard stood firm. "We have given them [China and India]) until mid-June to report their data."
To reduce tension, said Reuters, the commission has looked to the UN' International Civil Aviation Administration (ICAO) to come up with a global approach to curbing carbon emissions.
The European Court of Justice ruled in December that the law was valid and did not breach international treaties. It said the scheme was a market-based mechanism and not a tax.
Shipping Gazette - Daily Shipping News
.jpg)
The magazine SEA has been published since 1935
International business magazine JŪRA MOPE SEA has been published since 1999
The first magazine in Eurasia in the four languages: English, Chinese, Russian and Lithuanian
|
|