The European Parliament’s environment committee rejected an exemption for long-haul flights from paying for carbon emissions until the end of 2016.
The 71-member Environment Committee voted against a deal brokered by EU diplomats earlier this month, Reuters reports. The deal would extend a “stop the clock” measure to exempt intercontinental flights from regulation under the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS).
The vote is a preliminary indication that the exemption proposal may not have enough support in the full 766-member EU Parliament in early April, a step required before it can become law.
Failure to get final agreement on the compromise before the end of April would be likely to reignite tensions with Europe’s major trading partners, such as China and the United States, who have voiced strong opposition to the levy.