The Study on EU ETS (欧盟航空减排交易体制评析) -From the Perspective of China-

European Union unilaterally included the emissions from aviation activities into EU ETS on 19 November 2008 by amending Directive 2003/87/EC. According to the Directive all the emissions(mainly against the CO2) from aviation activities shall be subject to the regulation of EU ETS from 2012. For the period from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2012, the total quantity of allowances to be allocated to aircraft operators shall be equivalent to 97% of the historical aviation emission s. From 1 January 2013, the allowances will be reduced to 95%. The allocation of allowances which may be applied by each operator with free of charge will be reduced from 85% to 82% from 1 January 2012 to 1 January 2013. Since the Directive will affect every country's airline industry more or less, the nations and international organizations respond variously. The controversial focus is that whether EU has the right to unilaterally include the emissions from international aviation activities into EU ETS. This article firstly analyzes the effect caused by EU ETS to China's airline industry, and then studies the legality of the action of EU subject to current positive international law, and finally draws the conclusion that EU enjoys no such right to unilaterally include the emissions from international aviation activities.