Il difficile dialogo tra dimensione universale e dimensione regionale sulle emissioni di gas a effetto serra derivanti dall’aviazione civile internazionale

On 16 April 2014, the EU enacted Regulation 421/2014 amending directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community, in view of the implementation by 2020 of an international agreement applying a single global market-based measure to international aviation emissions. According to this new Regulation, the requirements set out in Directive 2003/87/EC should be considered satisfied for the period until 31 December 2016 in respect of flights to and from airports in Countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Despite the adoption of a similar temporary measure, which has to be contextualized within the «hated dialogue» between the EU and ICAO on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from international civil aviation, doubts still remain as to the compatibility of EU’s unilateral enactment of directive 2003/87/EU with international law. Against this background, the present essay will attempt to briefly summarize the main legal issues at stake and analyse possible future scenarios, paying particular attention to the difficulties that the co-existence of international and regional organizations and the simultaneous exercise of analogous competences can determine at the international level.