BRUSSELS, May 24 (Reuters) – Rising tensions with India and China over the European Union’s “arrogant” law on carbon emissions could rob the region of the markets that can rescue it from economic malaise, airline leaders said on Thursday.

They also said they had prepared contingency plans for a possible exit of Greece from the euro, as part of the industry’s extensive crisis management, and they were worried about a domino effect of more country’s being forced out of the currency bloc, with implications for all businesses.

“Europe is going to have to go outside of Europe to deliver the sort of growth that everyone wants, and that means doing business with the likes of China, Russia, India, with Latin American countries, all of whom are opposed to this Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS),” International Airlines Group Chief Executive Willy Walsh told reporters.

“To have a crisis in Europe and concerns about growth, and political leaders coming together to talk about a growth agenda, and at the same time have something going on in the background that risks undermining that fragile growth we believe is absolutely the wrong thing to do.”

Since the start of this year, all airlines have been bound by an EU law making them acquire carbon permits under the ETS.

The European Commission last week issued figures showing more than 1,200 airlines had complied with its ETS and only 10 - all from China and India – had not.

“We should not confuse compliance with agreement,” Walsh said. “The fact that India and China have not complied we believe is significant and of great concern.”

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Germany has asked for discussion on deeper EU carbon emissions cuts to be put on the agenda at a meeting of environment ministers in June, EU sources said.

If agreed, a more ambitious target could help to spur the European Union’s carbon market, which has sunk to record lows.

Previous debate of bigger carbon cuts, however, has been difficult, with coal-reliant Poland objecting that they could damage its economy.

“Germany asked for it (a deeper cut) to be added to the environment council agenda,” one of the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The meeting of ministers is set for June 11 in Luxembourg.

“It will be debated as part of discussion on the transition towards a competitive, low-carbon economy.”

No one from the German representation in Brussels could comment immediately.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces the challenge of coping with a switch from nuclear to green energy.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Indebted Greeks and nervous Olympians could draw relief from the latest European Union bathing report.

It finds the waters of Greece, so crucial to much-needed tourist revenues, are among the most pristine in Europe and confirms London’s Serpentine Lake, where Olympic triathletes will swim in competition, is clean enough to swim in.

Overall, 92.1 percent of bathing waters in the European Union meet minimum water quality standards, but some nations, including the EU’s home Belgium, have work to do.

Along with Bulgaria, Latvia, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, Belgium had relatively few sites, especially inland, conforming to the standards of the Bathing Water Directive.

Some five percent of Belgian sites were non-complying or poor and 9.1 percent banned or closed, while in the Netherlands 10.1 percent were non-complying or poor and 0.3 percent banned or closed.

Luxembourg did not have any non-compliant sites, but 45 percent of its bathing waters were banned or closed.

At the other end of the scale, with more than 90 percent of sites meeting the most stringent standards, were Cyprus, Croatia and Malta, as well as Greece.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s tax chief wants carmakers to drop their opposition to proposals to change EU fuel taxation that are expected to halt a rise in diesel use, saying they will be given a decade to adapt engine production to a new regime.

Germany, Europe’s biggest centre of car production and home to diesel-engine giant Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), stands to lose most from the proposal to revise the rules for minimum fuel tax levels across the European Union.

Carmakers say that, if implemented, the change will end diesel’s price advantage over petrol and sap demand for vehicles that use it.

“The car lobby is resisting, making arguments this will lead to an increase of tax on diesel versus petrol,” Algirdas Semeta, the European commissioner in charge of taxation policy, told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

“It (EU tax) will not lead to a dramatic change as is painted by the car industry,” said the commissioner, a former Lithuanian finance minister. “The use of diesel will not reduce but stabilise.

“We propose very generous transitional periods. The directive will fully enter into force in 2023,” said Semeta, adding new engines normally take five to seven years to develop.

Finance ministers from the EU’s 27 countries are expected to examine the plan, drawn up by the European Commission, when they meet next month.

BRUSSELS, May 21 (Reuters) – An energy policy vacuum is looming in the European Union after a firm set of policy goals for renewable energy, carbon cutting and energy saving expires in 2020.

To open up the debate on policy direction for renewable energy, the Commission has put together a communication, expected to be published officially next month.

A draft seen by Reuters early this month showed a concern with the economics and with the need to achieve free access to emerging renewable energy markets, if the EU is to retain its technological lead in green energy.

Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger has said he wants agreement on a new policy regime before the end of the current Commission, whose mandate expires in 2014.

An overall aim is that renewable energy should be developed in “a sustainable, market-integrated and cost effective manner”.

The following are some of the main questions addressed in the draft communication and accompanying impact assessment:

WHAT IS THE RATE OF GROWTH?

SAMSO, Denmark, May 17 (Reuters) – Over a beer or two, Danes like to tell a story that goes like this: One night the energy ministers of the countries around the North Sea got together to divide up its oil and gas wealth. The Danish minister got very drunk, but the Norwegian managed to stay sober. As a result, Norway carved out a jagged shape that included Ekofisk, which has proved to be a major field, and Denmark was left with the dregs.

Regarded as a model of how to spend oil and gas wealth wisely, Norway has stashed away surplus revenues from exports while hydropower caters for the bulk of its domestic electricity needs.

But Denmark has also found its own path to energy pragmatism, supplementing its relatively few oil rigs with wind turbines and a deep commitment to energy saving.

As awareness has grown, cities like Copenhagen and some of the nation’s hundreds of islands are vying for the accolade of “zero carbon” while Danes from across the social spectrum can tell you how much energy they use to the kilowatt.

Keeping up with the Joneses – or in this case Christensens - is all about using less fuel and having better solar panels.

“We get a bit competitive with our neighbours,” said Kalle Christensen, a computer engineer, who lives in a low-energy house in Stenlose South, just outside Copenhagen.

His is one of some 400 low-energy houses in a community expected to grow to at least 750. He said he was looking into buying solar panels that would allow him to sell more power back to the grid, although he already expects energy savings will more than make up the roughly 10,000 euro ($13,300) difference in price between his low-energy home and a standard house.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Commission is in close contact with the United States and the International Energy Agency (IEA) but sees no immediate need for any release of oil stocks, the EU’s energy chief said on Wednesday.

Oil markets have been on alert for a possible release from strategic reserves after news in March the United States had held talks with the British and French on the issue.

In an election year, the U.S. administration is anxious to bring down gasoline prices as the summer driving season looms and further debate is expected at G8 talks at the end of this week in Camp David, United states.

“At the moment the oil price is stable or going down. All our analysts say we have enough oil in Europe and globally, but we are flexible. We are in good contact with the IEA, the government in Washington and the member states,” Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told Reuters’ Global Energy and Environment Summit.

“We have a pragmatic approach if there is any need to organize volumes coming out from our stocks, we can activate (them) in a few days. We are thinking about this. We are in contact with the U.S. administration,” he said.

International crude prices have fallen from a high for the year so far of $128.40 a barrel at the start of March, to just below $112 on Wednesday as supplies have swollen and economic turmoil has made traders flee riskier assets.

Supply in the market is ample in part because of extra Saudi Arabian barrels, which have compensated for Iranian oil halted by EU sanctions against Iranian crude.

BRUSSELS/LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) – EU nations should pledge that funds from paying for airline emissions will help poor countries deal with global warming, the bloc’s climate chief said on Tuesday, after finance ministers stopped short of a firm commitment.

Crisis in Greece and the euro-zone topped the agenda at the ministers’ talks in Brussels, but they also agreed to text on climate funding, which only promised hard cash until the end of the year.

A solution for the longer term would be to “give this modest revenue back into climate financing,” Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told Reuters’ Global Energy and Environment Summit, referring to cash from the airlines’ contribution to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

It could also deflect vehement international criticism of the EU’s law, which requires all airlines using EU airports to buy allowances under the ETS.

“Some thought we were just taking this money and saying it was a tax,” Hedegaard said.

“Financial ministers have started this discussion by saying it could go into this (climate funding), but through national budgets.”

The European Union re-committed to providing 7.2 billion euros ($9.4 billion) for a pot of climate money referred to as “fast-track financing”, covering the period 2010-12.

BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Carbon emissions in the European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) fell by more than 2 percent in 2011 but an oversupply of permits key to driving greener energy use worsened, European Commission data showed on Tuesday.

The glut in pollution permits has grown to 900 million, data showed, which could put further pressure on low carbon prices.

“ETS emissions decreased by more than 2 percent in 2011, despite an expanding (economic) recovery. This good result shows that the ETS is delivering cost-effective emissions reductions,” the Commission said in a statement.

“It also emphasizes why the ETS remains the engine to drive low carbon growth in Europe.”

However, some carbon analysts said the decline in emissions was due to lower power generation due to weak industrial output towards the latter end of the year and a slowing economy.

The EU’s emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) limits the carbon dioxide emissions of the 27-nation bloc’s factories and power plants and covers nearly half of EU emissions.

Preliminary data in April showed a fall of 2.4 percent in carbon emissions in 2011, suggesting the bloc is on track to achieve its 2020 climate target to cut emissions 20 percent below 1990 levels.

BRUSSELS, May 15 (Reuters) – A total of 10 Chinese and Indian commercial airlines have broken EU law requiring them to offset their carbon emissions, while all other international carriers flying to or from Europe have complied, the European Union’s climate chief said on Tuesday.

The EU law demanding all airlines participate in the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) has prompted outcry and threats of a trade war.

But only eight Chinese and two Indian airlines have delivered on threats not to comply, while more than 1,200 airlines have met the EU’s requirements.

“We have given them (India and China) until mid-June to report back their data,” EU Climate Commissioner Connie Hedegaard told a news briefing.

She did not identify the Indian and Chinese airlines that failed to meet a March 31 deadline to report their emissions.

The Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has the option of fining airlines that break its law, or even, as a last resort, banning repeat offenders from flying to Europe.

To reduce tension, the Commission has looked to the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Administration (ICAO) to come up with a global approach to curbing emissions from airlines.