The European Commission says it is not afraid of retaliation against its newly launched maritime Emissions Trading System (ETS), though history suggests this is not true.
Attempts to expand the European Union ETS to non-EU aircraft journeys in 2012 were quickly forgotten when rumours surfaced that Airbus orders were at stake.
For shipping, there is a different story. On the grounds that the International Maritime Organization is “very slow” — a criticism with which few would disagree — the EC wants both intra-EU traffic and 50% of incoming and outgoing legs included.