Britain says it would have a "strong legal case" against the European Commission if the two sides go to court over changes Britain made to its emissions trading scheme, UK environment chief Margaret Beckett said on Wednesday. Britain last month said it was pressing ahead with a revised allocation plan for the European Union system, despite claims by Brussels that the move was illegal and that it could face legal action if it went ahead. Britain and the Commission have since been locked in talks over the changes made to the scheme, which sets industry softer targets on cutting carbon dioxide emissions than those previously set. "We believed we had every justification for seeking to amend our provisional proposals," environment minister Beckett said in answer to question at a conference in London. "We made very clear when we submitted them that they were provisional and that they may have needed a lot more work, and if that work revealed substantial differences, then we would want to come back to the Commission and to reflect on those. "The Commission does not dispute that we made that clear when we first submitted our proposals and we regard the changes as an amendment to the original document. In that, the Commission has been reluctant to accept," Beckett said. --More 2102 Local Time 1802 GMT
