HONG KONG - The European Union will press ahead with emissions levies for international airlines, despite opposition from countries including China, India and the United States.

"The EU will not suspend the legislation," Siim Kallas, the European Commission's vice-president for transport, said on Monday in Singapore at an airline conference. "It's a very high-profile environmental issue."

At least 27 countries are due to meet next week in Moscow to discuss placing new charges on European airlines as they protest the EU's addition of aviation to a carbon-emissions trading system last month. The governments say the move extends EU regulations beyond the bloc's border.