A noisier EU Quarter in Brussels

Since 6 February, planes have been rerouted from their route over the leafy suburbs of Flanders east of Brussels to straight over the EU quarter. People in the eurobubble say it's another example of Belgium dumping problems on people who cannot vote in general elections.

Today, members of the European Parliament rejected a European Commission proposal that would have allowed the European Union to overrule local authority decisions on the banning of flights at certain times.

The vote was only a rubber-stamping of a decision taken back in January to reject this part of the airport noise proposal. However, some MEPs saw this week's vote as an opportunity to bring up an airport noise issue closer to their hearts – new flight plans in Belgium that send planes from Zaventem airport straight over Brussels city centre and the EU quarter.

Since 6 February, planes taking off from Zaventem have been using a new route ordered by the Belgian federal government. The ‘Wathelet plan' – named after its designer Melchior Wathelet, Belgium's secretary of state of environment, energy, mobility and institutional reforms – has rerouted 80% of flights that used to fly over sparsely populated areas of Flanders east of Brussels. One hundred flights a day are now flying at low altitude through Brussels city - straight over the EU institutions.

Caving in on the cave-in

The humiliating saga of the ETS aviation dispute has exposed the limits of respect for EU law, both outside and inside Europe.

It's not looking good for the European Commission's proposal to undo an EU law that would have charged all airlines for the emissions of flights taking off or landing in Europe. An increasing number of member states and MEPs are coming out in opposition. But they don't have a problem with the retreat. They say the Commission isn't retreating far enough.

Last week Germany, France and the UK told a meeting of member states that they want to change the proposal to a more complete surrender.

In October, in response to intense international pressure, the Commission proposed to change the law so that emissions that take place outside EU air space are exempt. But Germany, France and the UK want to exempt foreign airlines from the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) entirely - even for the portions of flights that take place within EU airspace - because anything less would not be politically acceptable to China, India, Russia and the United States.

Timetable diplomacy

It's crunch time ahead of this month's make-or-break annual summit of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

If no deal on aviation emissions can be reached at this summit, starting on 24 September, the EU and its large global partners may be plunged back into a trade war over the question of whether the EU can charge airlines for emissions that took place outside EU airspace.

All emissions from planes taking off or landing in the EU were to be covered under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) from January 2012. But in November the EU suspended for a year its coverage of foreign air traffic after the US, China and others raised howls of protests over sovereignty issues.

Europe goes after the skies

Amid all of the hand-wringing and fear that the Ireland ‘no’ vote will bring the EU to a chaotic standstill in January, judging by the news yesterday Brussels isn’t ratcheting down its ambition in the mean time.

After much negotiation, the EU at long last reached an agreement Thursday to add airlines to the ‘carbon credits’ scheme that requires big polluters to purchase credits in order to pollute. It is a truly landmark agreement because it will force not just European airlines, but foreign ones as well, to participate in the carbon scheme in order to use European airports. That part of the agreement is surely going to result in a fiery showdown with the United States, which today called the scheme both “illegal” and “unworkable.”

The Emissions Trading Scheme was started in 2005, and so far has only included heavy industry. It requires them to buy credits for each set amount of carbon dioxide they release into the atmosphere beyond a specific allotted amount. The European Commission and EU regulators have been eyeing adding airlines to the scheme for some time, as heavy industry argued it was being unfairly targeted. It’s the first such requirement in the history of aviation, requiring all airlines arriving or leaving from airports in the European Union to buy pollution credits beginning in 2012. The proposal still needs the approval of the European Parliament and the EU member states, but Slovenia, which currently holds the EU presidency, has apparently already gotten member states on board.