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On 15 April, the Commission opened a public consultation to gather stakeholders’ views on the future of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). It covers entities covered by ETS1, namely aviation, maritime transport and stationary installations. ETS2 (road transport and buildings) is not covered by the consultation as its launch is expected in 2027, with a potential review at a later stage.

Specifically, the Commission aims to address the risk of carbon leakage for the above mentioned entities and reflect upon potential amendments to their scope: in aviation, as ETS applies to intra-EEA flights only, and in light with the implementation of CORSIA at global level, the Commission evaluates the need to possibly extend ETS to cover emissions from all flights landing in and departing from the EEA to maintain the EU climate ambitions. In maritime transport the recently approved measures at IMO needs to be assessed against the current EU measures and possibly extend the ETS scope to smaller ships (between 400 and 5000 GT). The consultation also aims to gather views on the use of revenues generated by ETS.

The consultation is open until 8 July and is accessible via this link. CLECAT welcomes this initiative allowing the freight forwarding sector to provide its input, especially regarding the risks of carbon leakage observed in ETS maritime, and the interaction of EU regulations with international agreements such as CORSIA and the recently approved IMO decarbonisation measures. While ambitious measures should help drive the decarbonisation of freight transport, they must be fair and transparent: the measures should not become an extra burden and a profit-making exercise at the expense of the users of freight services, with potential double or triple charging of GHG emissions.