LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The cap on European industry’s emissions could be increased to 34 percent below 2005 levels from 21 percent below now if the EU moves to an overall 30 percent emissions reduction goal in 2020, a draft EU document shows.

Under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS), the carbon emissions of heavy industry are capped, forcing installations to buy permits to cover increased emissions output.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is considering border tariffs on imports from more polluting countries, but an initial assessment shows such levies could spark trade wars, draft reports show.

Two European Commission reports do not explicitly reject a push for border tariffs by France and Italy, but say they would be fiendishly complex to calculate, create a huge administrative burden and risk trade conflict.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Europe took the first steps toward a massive roll-out of electric vehicles on Wednesday, backing up past rhetoric with plans for pan-European standards that the industry has cried out for.

“Without strong standardization work, I think it will be difficult to develop a market for electric cars,” European Union industry commissioner Antonio Tajani said as he launched his EU green vehicles strategy.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Last week’s volcanic ash cloud cost European Union airlines 1.5-2.5 billion euros ($2-3.3 billion), the EU executive said as it proposed a series of actions to help the cash-strapped industry.

Governments will be able to waive restrictions on night flights and defer charges paid to air traffic controllers to help airlines cope with cash-flow problems, the European Union’s transport chief said on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Last week’s volcanic ash cloud cost European Union airlines 1.5-2.5 billion euros ($2-3.3 billion), the EU executive said as it proposed a series of actions to help the cash-strapped industry.

Governments will be able to waive restrictions on night flights and defer charges paid to air traffic controllers to help airlines cope with cash-flow problems, the European Union’s transport chief said on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS/MADRID (Reuters) – European authorities have seized on this week’s airline crisis to fast-track their control of airspace, but they appear to have less interest in helping airlines pay the bills left by the volcanic ash cloud.

European transport commissioner Siim Kallas will next week present recommendations learned from a week of aviation chaos, which the airline industry says cost it about $1.7 billion in lost revenue, though it also saved some $660 million in costs such as fuel.

DUBLIN/BRUSSELS, April 22 (Reuters) – Ireland’s Ryanair
<RYA.I> backed down in a row over compensation for victims of
the Icelandic ash crisis on Thursday as the European Commission
warned low-cost airlines not to “discount” passengers’ rights.

Europe’s largest low-cost airline said it would comply with
an “unfair” European law that requires airlines to pay the hotel
and food costs of people stranded without flights after refusing
at first to repay more than the cost of the air ticket.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive has recommended making an extra 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) of loans available to help other countries combat climate change.

Belarus, Iraq, Libya, Iceland and Cambodia were also added to the list of more than 70 territories that the EU can lend to.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Biofuels such as biodiesel from soy beans can create up to four times more climate-warming emissions than standard diesel or petrol, according to an EU document released under freedom of information laws.

The European Union has set itself a goal of obtaining 10 percent of its road fuels from renewable sources, mostly biofuels, by the end of this decade, but it is now worrying about the unintended environmental impacts.