Conservatives rallied sufficient support during a full plenary session in Brussels to overturn an earlier decision by the Environment Committee under which the EU would have attempted to force non-European airlines to pay a carbon levy every time they flew in or out of the EU.
This would have provoked retaliation which could have severely damaged the UK’s aerospace sector.
During the vote Plaid MEP Jill Evans joined Green colleagues in rejecting proposals to continue exempting non-European airlines from its Emissions Trading Scheme.
Had the Greens succeeded it would have forced non-EU airlines, including those from the United States, India and China, to pay a levy for every flight.
These main trading partners had threatened retaliatory measures, with the US Congress passing a resolution condemning the scheme.
The Chinese government was expected to respond most harshly to the levy. The Chinese were planning to unfreeze an order of 27 Airbus A330s but that was put on hold due to the prospect of the charges.
Beijing had also originally been planning to confirm an order for a further 150 Airbus jets at the end of this month but that did not happen.
Commenting after the vote, Dr Swinburne said:
“Jill Evans’ reckless, irresponsible behaviour threatened thousands of Welsh jobs, including many at Airbus.
“It is fortunate that the majority of MEPs rejected this short sighted approach to carbon reduction.
“Rather than standing up for Wales in Europe, Jill Evans and Plaid Cymru were prepared to sacrifice thousands of Welsh jobs with a meaningless gesture over climate change which could have destroyed the aerospace industry in Wales and seriously damaged the Welsh economy.
“Until we can find an international agreement on airline emissions we should not be risking retaliation from major economic partners for the sake of ideology. Plaid have actively put Welsh jobs at risk.
