Air Transport Association of America and Others v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and the Accountability of International Organisations for Member Obligations

Abstract

After the European Union (EU) enacted the Aviation Directive of 2008 applying the EU-ETS) to the greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes on routes landing or taking off in the EU, a world-wide diplomatic backlash threatened retaliation at the World Trade Organization (WTO) or the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). In the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), a coalition of airlines lost a challenge which asserted that the directive was in essence imposed as a tax, in contravention of customary international law and multiple international treaties related to air transport. In upholding the directive, the court refused to recognise the validity of the Chicago Convention on international air transport signed by all the member states, raising questions of accountability under international law.