EU Emissions Trading Scheme - The Legal Challenge

On 27 May 2010, the High Court in London agreed to refer to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) a legal challenge on the lawfulness of the extension of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme ("EU ETS") to aviation.

In December 2009, the Air Transport Association of America ("ATA") and three of its airline members (American, Continental and United) filed an application for a judicial review of the UK regulations that implement the ETS. In recognising the importance of the issues and the fact that only the ECJ possesses the authority to make a binding decision on the legality of the scheme as it applies to all concerned, the judge has referred the matter for a preliminary ruling. The timing of the hearing at the ECJ remains uncertain, but is not expected for at least another 12 months.