German MEP Peter Liese, who is attempting to amend the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme for aviation through the European Parliament, has warned that should is the law is not soften in relation to charging foreign airlines for their emissions, it will lead to an international trade war.
The European Commission has proposed reinstating the law, but weakening it to force all carriers using EU airports between 2014 and 2020 to pay for the greenhouse gases they emit in EU airspace via the ETS.
"If this proposal is blocked, the EU is in deep trouble because we'll go back to the original legislation ... and a trade war will be unavoidable," Liese said.