.gif)
European Union environment ministers agreed Thursday to impose carbon dioxide emissions curbs on airlines from 2012, but environmentalists and EU lawmakers said the plans did not go far enough.
Under the agreement, airlines flying not only within the EU but also to or from the 27 nation bloc will be included in Europe's emissions trading system, like other energy-hungary industries have been since 2005.
"The eyes of the world are upon us. We have to send out a strong signal to the rest of the world," Portuguese Environment Minister Francisco Nunes Correia said while chairing talks with counterparts in Brussels.
"Air traffic must contribute to climate protection, there's no alternative," German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said.
EU governments will now have to find a compromise with the European Parliament, which had sought an earlier start date of 2011 and also has to approve the plans in a second reading.
EU lawmakers from both sides of the parliament's political spectrum warned that the ministers had watered down the package too much and that they would not be able to approve it without changes.
"It is regrettable that the council (of ministers) wants to start so late with emissions trading in aviation," said conservative MEP Peter Liese, who has steered the legislation through the assembly.
"European Parliament as co-legislator will not accept that this weak decision comes into force unchanged", he said.
