To ensure that aviation effectively contributes to the reduction of global CO2 emissions, a fair ETS market, supported by Air France, is a better solution than taxation. Taxation would simply worsen the financial capacity of airlines to invest in more efficient and therefore cleaner aircraft.

However, the economic context has considerably changed since the ETS was implemented in 2005, - with a threefold increase in the price per barrel of petrol, uncertain global growth together with the introduction of increasingly tougher conditions governing the integration of air transport in the ETS system rendering market mechanisms inefficient, even a threat to the survival of airlines.

In order for the ETS scheme to remain virtuous, the conditions for implementing this system must be fair and realistic so as to take into account the new economic context:

► The scheme must not be discriminatory. It must apply in the same way to all airlines in the world. A carrier whose hub is located outside the European Union yet flies passengers from one side of the planet to the other while circumnavigating Europe, would have an unfair advantage over airlines with a hub in Europe. Some traffic flows would be diverted from European to non-European hubs and the efforts asked of European airlines in the fight against
climate change would be wiped out. Failing this, the scheme should involve similar groups that are subject to the same regulations, for example starting with intra-European traffic at the outset.

► The authorized quotas must be allocated free of charge. To cover market operating costs, a small proportion of quotas could be auctioned. Auctioning a large number or even all the quotas would mean implementing a taxation system, which is in total opposition to the underlying principle of ETS, weakening the financial capacity of airlines to invest in new aircraft.

► The ETS must be implemented in a market which is open to various industrial sectors. If the current proposal enables carriers to buy emissions permits on the market, the more virtuous among them should also be able to sell them to other sectors.

► The reference basis should take into account the efforts already made by each airline before the system is implemented, so that those which have already invested in modern fleets are not at a disadvantage.