The BBC reports:
Plans to include any airline landing or taking off on EU territory in an emissions trading scheme are legal, an adviser to Europe's top court has said.
European Court of Justice Advocate General Juliane Kokott said this in response to a legal challenge to the scheme by North American airlines.
Though the court will not rule until next year, it follows the advocate-general's opinion in most cases.
Here's an excerpt from the opinion:
On the absence of any extraterritorial effect of the EU emissions trading scheme
145. As many of the governments and institutions involved in the proceedings have correctly concluded, Directive 2008/101 does not contain any extraterritorial provisions. The activities of airlines within the airspace of third countries or over the high seas are not made subject to any mandatory provisions of EU law by virtue of this directive. In particular, Directive 2008/101 does not give rise to any kind of obligation on airlines to fly their aircraft on certain routes, to observe specific speed limits or to comply with certain limits on fuel consumption and exhaust gases.
146. Directive 2008/101 is concerned solely with aircraft arrivals at and departures from aerodromes in the European Union, and it is only with regard to such arrivals and departures that any exercise of sovereignty over the airlines occurs: depending on the flight, these airlines have to surrender emission allowances in various amounts, (131) and if they fail to comply there is a threat of penalties, which might even extend to an operating ban. (132)
147. The fact that the calculation of emission allowances to be surrendered is based on the whole flight in each case does not bestow upon Directive 2008/101 any extraterritorial effect. Admittedly, it is undoubtedly true that, to some extent, account is thus taken of events that take place over the high seas or on the territory of third countries. This might indirectly give airlines an incentive to conduct themselves in a particular way when flying over the high seas or on the territory of third countries, in particular to consume as little fuel as possible and expel as few greenhouse gases as possible. However, there is no concrete rule regarding their conduct within airspace outside the European Union.
148. It is by no means unusual for a State or an international organisation also to take into account in the exercise of its sovereignty circumstances that occur or have occurred outside its territorial jurisdiction. The principle of worldwide income thus applies in many countries under income tax law. Under anti-trust law as well as in merger control it is normal worldwide practice for competition authorities to take action against agreements between undertakings even if those agreements have been concluded outside the territorial scope of their jurisdiction and may perhaps even have a substantial effect outside that scope of jurisdiction. (133) In one fisheries case, the Court of Justice even ruled that fish caught in the high seas could be confiscated as soon as the vessel concerned, flying the flag of a third country, reached a port within the European Union. (134)
149. The decisive element from an international-law perspective is that the particular facts display a sufficient link with the State or international organisation concerned. The particular connecting factor can be based on the territoriality principle, (135) the personality principle (136) or – more rarely – on the universality principle.
b) On the existence of an adequate territorial link
150. The European Union can rely on the territoriality principle in the present case.
151. In general, the European Union may require all undertakings wishing to provide services within its territory to comply with certain standards laid down by EU law. Accordingly, it may require airlines to participate in measures of EU law on environmental protection and climate change (137) – in this case the EU emissions trading scheme – whenever they take off from or land at an aerodrome within the territory of the European Union.
152. Take-off and landing are essential and particularly characteristic elements of every flight. If the place of departure or destination is an aerodrome within the territory of the European Union there will be an adequate territorial link for the flight in question to be included in the EU emissions trading scheme.
153. Under the EU emissions trading scheme a particular airline may be required, when departing from or arriving at a European aerodrome, to surrender emission allowances that are higher the further the point of departure is from the destination. Taking account of the whole length of the flight is ultimately an expression of the principle of proportionality and reflects the ‘polluter pays’ principle of environmental law.
154. The territoriality principle does not prevent account also being taken in the application of the EU emissions trading scheme of parts of flights that take place outside the territory of the European Union. Such an approach reflects the nature as well as the spirit and purpose of environmental protection and climate change measures. It is well known that air pollution knows no boundaries and that greenhouse gases contribute towards climate change worldwide irrespective of where they are emitted; they can have effects on the environment and climate in every State and association of States, including the European Union.
155. A comparison with the aforementioned fisheries case is also worthwhile in this context. If it is permissible under the territoriality principle for fish caught outside the European Union to be confiscated from a vessel sailing under the flag of a third country whilst at a port within the European Union, (138) there cannot be any prohibition against exhaust gases from an aircraft emitted outside the airspace of the European Union being taken into account on its departure from or arrival at an aerodrome within the European Union for the purposes of calculating the emission allowances to be surrendered.
c) On the absence of any adverse effect on the sovereignty of third countries
156. Contrary to the view taken by the claimants in the main proceedings and the associations supporting them, Directive 2008/101 does not, either in law or in fact, preclude third countries from bringing into effect or applying their own emissions trading schemes for aviation activities.
157. Admittedly, if sections of flights that take place over the high seas and within the territory of third countries are included there is a risk of ‘double regulation’, that is to say, a risk of one and the same route being taken into account twice under the emissions trading schemes of two States. This might be the case, in particular, if an emissions trading scheme applicable at the place of departure of an international flight and the scheme applicable at its place of destination were both – like Directive 2008/101 – to take account of the whole flight.
158. Nevertheless, however onerous it might be for the airlines concerned, such double regulation is not prohibited under the principles of customary international law at issue here. It is indeed accepted under customary international law, just as the widespread phenomenon of double taxation is accepted in the field of direct taxation. (139)
159. The double inclusion of a single flight in two different emissions trading schemes can only be avoided by unilateral measures or by agreement between the States and international organisations concerned. Even though customary international law does not impose any such obligation, the EU legislature expressly mentioned its willingness in that respect in Directive 2008/101 and also included a specific saving clause. (140)
It's Case C‑366/10 on the ECJ web site: http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en
