BERLIN – An aviation industry group representing most major airlines criticized the European Parliament on Thursday for seeking to extend the emissions trading system to all flights departing from the bloc. EU lawmakers voted Wednesday that existing requirements for airlines to buy credit for their greenhouse gas emissions should be extended to include everything leaving the 27-nation bloc, Norway and Iceland. . The applicable rules only apply to flights within this area. The International Air Transport Association warned on Thursday that such a move could undermine a separate international agreement, known as CORSIA, that allows airlines to buy credit to offset their emissions. Critics, however, say the system is not effective enough. IATA, which claims to represent around 290 airlines, representing more than 83% of world air traffic, said the planned expansion of the EU emissions trading scheme would also cause “severe distortion of competition and weakening global competition position of EU airlines and hubs. “ “This decision by the European Parliament is worrying because it jeopardizes international cooperation in tackling the effects of aviation climate change,” IATA Director-General Willie Walsh said in a statement. He urged EU states to reject the plan and commit to negotiating a global agreement on air emissions. The decision by the European Parliament, part of a climate package passed by lawmakers, which also included plans to ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines from 2035, was welcomed by environmentalists. Jo Dardenne, aviation director of the Brussels-based Transport and Environment Group, said the EU vote was “an important step forward in tackling very polluting long-haul flights”. The group also welcomed EU plans to monitor the climate impact of water vapor released by aircraft – the white lines in the sky known as contrails – and the phasing out of free airline allowances earlier. Airlines in the EU currently receive more than half of their carbon credits for free, but this was to be phased out by 2027. European lawmakers voted in favor of moving the deadline to 2025. Follow the AP Climate Coverage at