Press Release

Issued by European Business Aviation Association.

September 20, 2013

Ahead of the ICAO assembly 38th session beginning 24 September, the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA) reaffirms its support for the implementation of an international MBM mechanism to address aviation CO2 emissions under ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). Such a mechanism is vital in order to deter the creation of a patchwork of unilateral national and/or regional policy measures across the globe. In that sense, the association welcomes the ICAO council's latest resolution as a concrete step in the right direction. In particular, its precise timeline for the implementation of a global MBM by 2020 constitutes undeniable progress compared to previous positions.

"We have already witnessed the folly of imposing market-based measures on a strictly regional basis. The EU-ETS has had its share of criticism from stakeholders worldwide,” explains Fabio Gamba, ceo of EBAA. Amongst those is the fact that the financial and administrative burden of EU-ETS has fallen disproportionately on the shoulders of small business aircraft operators flying mostly within Europe.

"A truly viable MBM must aim to minimise competitive distortion and administrative complexity. The current EU-ETS has failed to do either; first by imposing different compliance thresholds for commercial and non-commercial operators, and more recently by enacting a derogation, which has distorted competition by reserving EU-ETS for intra-European flights only,” adds Fabio Gamba. "To that end, we welcome the council's resolution which recognises that the administrative burden of an MBM for operators should not exceed the benefits from their participation in the scheme. This is a strong – and fair – principle that we wish to be applied under a revised EU ETS.”

If the resolution is accepted, in part or in full, it is anticipated that the current EU ETS, including its stop-the-clock derogation, should – accordingly - be substantially modified. This would represent a unique chance to rebalance a fundamentally flawed piece of legislation. First and foremost, a revised EU ETS should tackle the current exemption threshold for non-commercial operators and raise it to the same level as for commercial operators (10,000 tonnes of CO2 and less than 243 flights per three consecutive periods of four months). "This would address the competitive disadvantage between both types of operators and would eliminate the current levels of nugatory costs on operators and regulators alike,” says Brian Humphries, president of EBAA. "We are hopeful these considerations will be made, as failing to address them via appropriate amendments would essentially nullify the expected progress achieved at the assembly.”