GERMAN POSITION ON EU EMISSIONS TRADING AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERLIN 003519

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

MONTREAL FOR ICAO

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ECON SENV GM
SUBJECT: GERMAN POSITION ON EU EMISSIONS TRADING AND
INTERNATIONAL AVIATION

REF: STATE 190254

TEXT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR INTERNET
DISTRIBUTION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Per action request in reftel, post has
discussed points with a broad range of German officials in
the Foreign Office, Ministry of Environment, Economic
Ministry, Transportation Ministry, and the Bundestag. All
contacts noted the Environment Ministry has the lead on this
issue within the German government and is its most active
supporter. That said, the German government has not taken a
position on the inclusion of non-EU carriers in the emissions
trading scheme and officials argue they needed to see what
emerged from the commission before they could react
officially. Foreign Ministry officials also came across as
positively inclined towards including non-EU countries in the
proposed EU emissions trading scheme. Chancellery officials
stated they and the Economic Ministry are the most opposed.
Lufthansa opposes including civil aircraft in the ETS unless
it is on a global basis and its chairman has publicly noted
there are other, more effective means to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions, e.g., new aircraft technology, changes to
flight plans, and especially changes to the European air
traffic control system. Contacts emphasized the formal
unveiling of the EU's proposal on aircraft emissions December
20 will signify only the beginning of the discussions on this
issue. German officials, as well as key parliamentarians, do
not expected it to be adopted immediately and all are
amenable to dealing with this issue within the framework of
the ICAO. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) On December 2, Econoffs met with Dr. Michael
Witter, MFA Deputy Director General for International
Economics and Hans-Peter Hofmann, MFA Office Director for
Environmental Affairs. Hofmann confirmed the issue is a
priority for Germany, adding that within the government, the
Environment Ministry has the lead on this proposal. Hofmann
and Witter expressed strong support for the idea of including
airlines in emissions trading, showing a position more in
line with the Environment Ministry than with other parts of
the German government. EMIN also raised the issue with
Chancellery Deputy Director General for International
Economic and Financial Issues Johannes Kindler on November

30. He said the German government is divided on the idea
with the Chancellery and Economic Ministry among the
strongest opponents and the Environment Ministry very much in
favor of the measure. Economics Minister Glos made public
comments on December 4 questioning the economic sense of
including only European airplane emissions into the European
Emissions Trading Scheme.


3. (SBU) Econoff conveyed reftel points December 5 to
Ministry of Environment Office Director for European Union
Affairs Norbert Gorissen, Office Director for Cooperation
with OECD Member States Bert-Axel Szelinski, Meike Soeker
from the Office of Legal Issues and Dirk Weinreich from the
Environment and Energy Division. The officials expressed
strong support for including airlines in emissions trading.
Gorissen asserted the concept fits with the Chancellor's
interest in advancing efforts to combat climate change during
the German EU Presidency. He said there has been rapid
growth in airline emissions in recent years and it is time to
act. He also noted other EU members share this desire to
expand the emissions trading system and Germany has an
obligation as EU president to advance the priorities of
member states. It would be remiss of Germany, he continued,
not to address the issue during its EU Presidency.


4. (SBU) Responding to the suggestion that airline emissions
be handled within ICAO, Weinreich and Soeker said Germany has
been trying to promote airline emissions trading within the
ICAO Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection but
claimed there has been little progress. They said they would
welcome addressing the issue in ICAO and asked for U.S.
suggestions on how to advance the discussion. Ministry of
Environment officials agreed they did not want to see U.S.-EU
disagreement on airline emissions trading "boil over" and
suggested more bilateral discussion on ways to reduce
emissions. They noted they would not see the EU Commission
proposal until December 20 and could not yet say how the plan
would handle non-EU airlines. While emphasizing this topic
is important to Germany, they also observed it is unlikely a
final ruling would be reached during the 2007 German
Presidency. Environment Ministry officials indicated the
priority for Germany is introducing the issue during its
Presidency to signal its seriousness in addressing climate
change.


5. (SBU) On December 12, EMIN met with Klaus Lippold (CDU),
Chairman of the Transportation Committee of the Bundestag.
Lippold said he expects the EU to present plans for the
inclusion of aircraft emissions in the European emissions
trading regime on December 20. However, he stressed this
would only be the beginning of deliberations and would by no
means be the last word. Lippold predicts the EU decision
making process will take two to three years. He does not
expect the EU to bypass ongoing discussions in the ICAO on
this issue. While Lippold does not personally support this
proposal, he sees the establishment of an EU emissions
trading system for aircraft in some form as "unstoppable;"
the EU Parliament, Commission and Council of Ministers have
all backed it too strongly to abandon it now. Lippold
supports a plan that is global in scope, not unilateral, and
is as efficient and unbureaucratic as possible. Lippold
concluded by saying the main goal of this proposal is to
reduce CO2 emissions; if other means are found, e.g., through
the use of alternative, cleaner fuels, this proposal may
prove moot.


6. (U) Lufthansa CEO, Wolfgang Mayrhuber, spoke publicly on
the issue November 30, saying he supports using more
effective means to reduce emissions from aircraft. Mayrhuber
argues improving aircraft infrastructure, utilizing new
technology, and unifying air traffic control operations in
Europe would cut emissions by as much as 8 - 12 percent.
Mayrhuber also says he would only support inclusion of air
traffic emissions in an emissions trading scheme if it were
truly global and supports using the ICAO to resolve this
issue.
TIMKEN JR