Muller was speaking at a climate change conference in Nairobi, where some 189 countries are meeting to discuss a united approach to tackle global warming.

"This will basically generate a level playing field for all airlines, all companies, which are flying to and from European airports, no matter what state they are coming from or where they are based," he said.

"We will try to demonstrate the workability of emissions trading in this sector and provide a model for further application worldwide."

Including flights in the EU carbon market would add between zero and nine euros to the cost of flights, he said.

The Commission tabled a recommendation last year that all carriers taking off from an EU airport, regardless of nationality, be included in the scheme in an effort to curb increasing emissions of gases that cause global warming.

Muller's comments indicate a shift from the original recommendation, which did not include flights landing at EU airports.

"We are doing this without prior commitment for other states to do the same, but we will be covering emissions from flights to and from European airports," he said.

GLOBAL SOLUTION

The United States is not the only party opposed to the EU plans. Airlines group IATA has said the International Civil Aviation Organization was working on a global solution to aviation pollution and would prefer the EU to hold off.

"We believe there should be a global solution," an IATA spokesman said on Wednesday, adding governments should also be working on improving air traffic management to cut down on aviation emissions.

"We believe that emissions trading is one of several measures that can be used to reduce carbon emissions as long as it's done in the right way."

The EU's scheme -- launched in 2005 as the centrepiece of the bloc's efforts to comply with the Kyoto Protocol -- puts a limit on the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) that big polluters such as power plants and oil refineries can emit.

Companies buy more rights to pollute if they overshoot their target or sell them if they come in below the cap.

European Union environment ministers gave their backing in December to the Commission's proposal on airlines but asked for studies on how it would affect the price of allowances already traded in the system, the price of electricity, and competition between airlines and other modes of transport.