The European Parliament is considering including military aviation in the EU's greenhouse gas emission trading scheme (ETS). The parliament will vote on including aviation in the scheme during its plenary session in Strasbourg, France, next week.
An amendment to this draft legislation calls for flights performed by military aircraft to be included in the ETS, unless they are "part of an international mission."
Will the RAF's wings be clipped because of EU greenhouse gas emission regulations?? Photo: Rolls-Royce
The amendment also excludes flights by customs and police services and for search and rescue and disaster relief, including firefighting.
The British Conservatives in the European Parliament fear the "RAF's wings could be clipped" by the amendment because it is so energy-intensive that its emissions would be capped.
The British government would then have to buy emissions permits to allow combat aircraft to fly missions, it is feared.
The ETS was launched in 2005 with the aim of capping greenhouse gas emissions from industries and allows companies to buy and sell emissions permits from and to each other.
The British Conservatives support including the aviation sector in the ETS but oppose including military flights. John Bowis, MEP, Conservative environment spokesman, calls the proposal to include military flights "unrealistic."
The Greens have criticized the European Parliament itself, for the emissions its members and staff cause by moving back and forth from Brussels and Strasbourg to hold plenary sessions. According to the Greens, it all amounts to an "environmentally-damaging wandering circus."
