Members — including Qatar Airways — of the regional aviation body, which represents the interests of commercial airlines across the Arab world, discussed the EU’s persistence in applying its ETS program despite objections voiced by governments around the world about the scheme’s legality.
The committee called on the EU to listen to voices around the world, calling on it to work with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on a global, rather than Europe-wide, solution on how to deal with the environmental footprint of civil aviation.
The committee decided to call on the EU to redirect its efforts on the environmental issue through ICAO and find a global solution and relinquish its unilateral application of the ETS.
As a result of the discussions, the Doha meeting declared, inter alia, that a unilateral application of the EU ETS is violating the essence of the Chicago convention, which stipulates that the air transport relations between states need to be regulated by mutual consent and agreement.
