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FM USEU BRUSSELS
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INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001212 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE EEB/TRA/OTP MEGAN WALKLET-TIGHE; EUR/ERA MATTHEW BEH 
FAA API JENNIFER KILEO; FAA AEA KURT EDWARDS 
MONTREAL PASS TO ICAO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAIR ECON SENV EUN
SUBJECT: USG OWNED OR OPERATED AIRCRAFT ON THE EU ETS LIST 
 
REF: STATE 89892 
 
BRUSSELS 00001212  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
 ¶1. (SBU)  SUMMARY:  USEU EconOffs raised U.S. concerns about 
USG owned or operated aircraft inappropriately included on 
the EU list of Aircraft Operators with European Commission 
officials at DG Transportation and Energy (DG TREN) and DG 
Environment (DG ENV) on September 1. Commission officials 
argued that the list has no consequences at the Community 
level, rather operator activity triggers ETS coverage.  As 
required by the EU Directive, the list will be revised in 
February 2010, but currently officials are unable to say if 
the USG aircraft would be removed.  DG ENV will request more 
detailed data from EuroControl as the basis for further 
expert discussion. The N-numbers and N-registered aircraft 
information was furnished by French authorities and relates 
to French Overseas Territories flights so Embassy Paris would 
be an appropriate addition to the Action Request.  USEU 
recommends putting the issue on the agenda of the October 
U.S.-EU Aviation Joint Committee Meeting and that the Head of 
Unit of DG ENV's Office of Clean Air and Transport be a 
member of the EU delegation. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On September 1, EconOff raised the points reftel 
at DG TREN with Policy Officers David Batchelor, Aviation 
Safety and Environment, and Daniel Edwards, Internal Market, 
Air Transport Agreements and Multilateral Relations, and 
requested that USG operators be removed from the EU list of 
Aircraft Operators.  Batchelor and Edwards were receptive, 
but underlined that DG ENV has lead in implementation of the 
EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS).  They understand the 
U.S. concern and will share it with Air Transport Director 
Daniel Calleja and Head of Unit Olivier Onidi.  Batchelor 
agreed that the list should be as accurate as possible, but 
noted that compiling it was a greater challenge than DG ENV 
had anticipated.  Given time constraints and the need to 
inform Member State authorioperator actiwe`Q`@Qid``atchelor--who 
gave a presention on EU-ETS MRV implementation at the June 
Joint Committee Meeting in Brussels.  He reports to Owen. 
END NOTE)  In response to the U.S. request that the USG 
aircraft be removed from the list on an urgent basis and that 
the multiple errors with N-numbers and N-registerd aircraft 
be corrected, DG ENV officials repeated Batchelor's argument 
that the list has no consequences at the Community level and 
that it serves only to allocate operators to Member State 
authorities.  Owen stressed that operator activities were key 
and that in regard to the USG aircraft it would be the 
purpose of the flight that would govern exceptions to the 
ETS. He said that his office would take another look at the 
list, reviewing it in due course to prepare the required 
annual update in February. Owen also provided copies of the 
Commission's Information Note on the Legal Status of the List 
of Aircraft Operators and of the Commission Decision of 8 
June 2009 on the Detailed Interpretation of Aviation 
Actitivies Listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC.  These 
documents have been emailed to EEB/TRA and are available on 
DG ENV website at www.ec.europa.eu/environment. 
 
 
BRUSSELS 00001212  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Good provided a lengthy explanation of how the list 
was prepared and said that the USG owned or operated craft 
would have been included because of the type of flight 
information filed.  At Owen's prompting, he agreed to request 
more detailed data from EuroControl regarding the USG owned 
or operated flights to serve as a basis for further expert 
discussion. He reiterated several times that inclusion in the 
EU ETS is linked to actual aviation activity and not to 
inclusion on the list.  When asked about Member State steps 
to incorporate ETS into domestic law, Good argued that 
references to the EU list simply allow Members State 
authorities "to consider the operators on the list" and 
provide legal grounds for refusing to regulate those assigned 
to another Member, providing "certainty" to authorities and 
to industry.  Good also noted that the information on 
N-numbers and N-registered aircraft came from French 
authorities since EuroControl has no records of flights in 
and out of the French Overseas Territories.  He expressed 
concern that due to using two separate sources of 
information, there may be some double counting and said that 
DG ENV would reach out to French authorities for 
clarification.  Citing the press of work in getting the MRV 
implementation underway, he claimed it would not be possible 
to revise the list prior to February 1, 2010. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  COMMENT:  USEU will press DG ENV to provide 
additional detail promptly and will continue to engage with 
appropriate officials there, but note the institutional 
unwillingness to resolve the matter before February, if then. 
 Regarding the N-numbers and N-registered aircraft, 
Washington agencies may wish to direct Embassy Paris raise 
the matter with the French authorities.  USEU recommends that 
EEB/TRA request Philip Owen, Head of the Clean Air and 
Transport Unit at DG ENV, be included in the EU delegation to 
the Joint Committee meeting in Washington in October, in 
order to further address this issue.  END COMMENT. 
 
MURRAY 
.