EU weighs extending carbon market to flights beyond Europe

The European Commission is looking at extending ​its carbon market to cover international flights, seeking to put a price ‌on more of the sector’s emissions and ensure fair ​treatment across airlines, a senior official said on Tuesday (May 12,2026).

Brussels ⁠is redesigning the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), which requires power plants and industries to buy carbon permits for their greenhouse gas emissions. ‌The scheme caps the number of permits available, to steer industries towards meeting EU climate targets.

The scheme caps the number of permits available to steer industries towards meeting EU climate targets. Mr. Polona Gregorin, a senior ‌official at the Commission’s climate department, said the review would ‌consider ⁠extending the ETS to put a carbon price on ⁠emissions from flights departing the EU. Currently, the scheme only imposes carbon costs on flights within Europe.

The change would aim to ensure equal treatment between routes for all ​operators, Mr. Gregorin said.

However, the ‌move risks a backlash from trade partners, including the United States, which opposed a previous EU attempt to expand its carbon market to cover international flights in 2011.

Emissions from international flights ‌are currently covered by a separate United Nations scheme, known ​as the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which requires airlines to buy CO2 offsets to cover the growth in their emissions, but does ⁠not require them to reduce emissions outright.

A 2021 study conducted for the European Commission warned that the U.N. scheme was unlikely to reduce ‌emissions, and may undercut Europe’s climate goals.

The ETS has come under growing political pressure from member states worried about Europe’s faltering economic competitiveness, while some heavy industries have urged Brussels to give them more free permits to ease the cost of complying.

Under the ETS, some free emissions permits are given to industrial sectors to ‌discourage them from relocating production outside the EU.

The Commission is considering whether ​to give industries free carbon permits for longer than previously planned, as some struggle to cut emissions and remain ⁠competitive in the face of cheap imports and stiff competition in global ⁠markets.

The Commission said it also plans to slow down the speed at which the ETS cuts emissions during ‌the 2030s, which could give industries some breathing space while still ensuring that emissions fall fast enough to align with the ​EU’s 2040 climate goals.