The European Union said that it is "totally committed" to reaching a deal on carbon emissions from airlines, but the fight is escalating as opposing nations prepare for a July 31 meeting to discuss how to fight against the new rule. The emissions regulations, which require all airlines in or transiting through Europe to participate in the EU's carbon trading scheme, will go into effect next year, though the European Commission has said that it will stop including aircraft in its ETS if the International Civil Aviation Organization proposes an alternative, or if airlines prove they have an alternate way of curbing emissions. International Air Transport Association Director General Tony Tyler criticized the Commission for putting ICAO's process of moving forward with its own market based measures at risk, calling the EU's plan a "divisive scheme." The Commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen told a briefing that there should be no action or retaliation against EU carriers, and said that the EU is "very committed, totally committed, to reaching an agreement that fully respects the conditions that we have put forward." A U.S. State Department official confirmed last week that it plans on hosting a two-day meeting of the "coalition of the unwilling," where participants will discuss how to fight back against the rule. For the full story, see http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/13/us-airline-carbon-idUSBRE86C0AI20120713 and http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-eu-airlines-carbon-idUSBRE86B0Y520120712. Earlier: http://elr.info/international/international-update/aviation-group-protests-eu-emissions-trading-scheme-laws, http://elr.info/international/international-update/india-boycotts-eus-aviation-emissions-scheme.