Application of the EU's Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) to aviation infringes neither the principles of international law nor the Open Sky agreement, ruled the EU Court of Justice, on 21 December. Its ruling (case C-366/10) upholds the lawfulness of Directive 2008/101/EC, which makes provision for including all airlines operating on EU territory, European or not, in the ETS. Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard, who is "very satisfied" with the court's ruling, commented: "A number of American airlines decided to challenge our legislation in court and thus to abide by the rule of law. So now we expect them to respect European law" (see separate article). The commissioner also reiterated the EU's determination to "work constructively with everyone to implement our legislation".
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