Britain looks set to benefit most as EU parcels out airlines for carbon trading

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BRUSSELS: Britain, home to Europe’s busiest airport, looks set to reap the most reward from European Union plans to require airlines to buy permits to cover their carbon emissions, according to a list released Wednesday that matches each of the world’s airlines to the one EU country that will be responsible for collecting payments.

The EU decided last year that most flights taking off or landing in Europe will be covered by the trade bloc’s trading system for emissions of greenhouse gases. The system, created in 2005, already includes heavy industries like cement makers and electricity generators in Europe.

Now the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, is setting up how the system will work for aviation. It is allocating each airline serving Europe to a single country that will be responsible for collecting payments.

The commission says national oversight should simplify administration, but the method also means that countries with the busiest airports are likely to prosper the most.

Britain, whose main airports include London Heathrow, would oversee about 780 carriers and operators including American Airlines and United Airlines, as well as private flights operated by U.S. companies like Wal-Mart and Bechtel, according to an initial assessment.

France would oversee about 515 carriers and operators including Air Algerie, All Nippon Airways, Coca-Cola and United Technologies.

Germany has about 290, including Delta Air Lines and Aeroflot, as well as General Motors and UPS.

Latvia would oversee only five carriers and operators, while Poland would oversee about 45 carriers.

The list was compiled by Eurocontrol, an organization responsible for air traffic management in Europe.

The commission said it could publish a revised list in coming months based on feedback from the industry. That list then would be updated annually to take account of new carriers and operators.

Aviation industry groups have vociferously opposed their inclusion in the EU carbon trading system, calling it unfair and burdensome. The International Air Transport Association, the main aviation lobby group, has said that the system will cost the industry at least €3.5 billion each year to comply.

In addition, there is no certainty that the money collected by governments would be used to fight climate change, warned Antony Concil, a spokesman for the association.

“There is no requirement to invest this money in the environment,” he said. Governments have “carte blanche to put the money towards the general collection,” said Concil, who added that Britain already collected large sums in the form of air passenger duties.

Spokesmen at the British Treasury and at the Department of Energy and Climate Change had no immediate comment on whether the British authorities had assessed the amount of money that the nation could earn from the system.

The Bush administration had warned that the European initiative could run counter to the convention governing international civil aviation.

On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Mission to the European Union said the U.S. government was “deferring comment as policy on climate change is under review.”