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            COMMISSION DECISION         

of 13 November 2006         

on avoiding double counting of greenhouse gas emission reductions under the Community emissions trading scheme for project activities under the Kyoto Protocol pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

(notified under document number C(2006) 5362)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2006/780/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,

Having regard to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (1), and in particular Article 11b(7) thereof,

Whereas:

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

This Decision lays down provisions for the implementation of Article 11b(3) and (4) of Directive 2003/87/EC.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Decision, and in addition to the definitions laid down in Article 2 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2216/2004 (2), the following definitions shall apply:

Article 3

1.   In its national allocation plan for the period 2008 to 2012, a Member State shall include in the total quantity of allowances a set-aside of allowances drawn up for each project activity in the format set out in the table in Annex I to this Decision if, prior to the deadline for the notification of its national allocation plan set out in Article 9(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC, the Member State has issued letters of approval as a host country, pledging to issue ERUs or CERs for project activities which result in emission reductions or limitations in installations falling under the scope of Directive 2003/87/EC.

2.   In its national allocation plan for the period 2008 to 2012, a Member State may also include in the total quantity of allowances an additional set-aside of allowances drawn up in the format set out in the Annex II to this Decision if after the decision pursuant to Article 11(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC it intends to issue letters of approval as a host country that pledge to issue ERUs or CERs before 31 December 2012 for project activities which result in emission reductions or limitations in installations falling under the scope of Directive 2003/87/EC. Planned project activities using the same methodology to reduce emissions for which no letter of endorsement has been issued yet may be grouped together under one column in the set-aside table drawn up according to Annex II.

3.   Until a decision pursuant to Article 11(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC has been taken by the Member State, but at the latest until the deadline for that decision in Article 11(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC, further allowances may be transferred from the set-aside established pursuant to Article 3(2) to the set-aside established pursuant to Article 3(1) that cover the trading sector project-reductions of projects for which the letter of approval has been issued after the deadline for the notification of its national allocation plan set out in Article 9(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC.

Article 4

The set-aside table shall be made available on the publicly accessible website of a Member State's registry.

Article 5

1.   ERUs and CERs that represent trading sector project-reductions may be issued up until 31 December 2012, provided that each such issuance is preceded by the conversion of an equivalent amount of allowances from one of the set-asides into assigned amount units and the Commission is informed thereof.

2.   The quantity of allowances in the set-aside established pursuant to Article 3(1) that that is not converted into assigned amount units in accordance with Article 5(1) until 31 December 2012 may be sold as 2008-2012 period allowances. If the project activity causes direct emission reductions and limitations, this quantity may be issued as 2008-2012 period allowances to the installations identified in rows VII/a-VII/b of the table in Annex I.

3.   Any allowances in the set-aside established pursuant to Article 3(2) that that are not converted into assigned amount units in accordance with Article 5(1) until 31 December 2012 shall be cancelled.

Article 6

1.   A Member State wishing to approve project activities as a host country after the deadline for the submission of the national allocation plan shall inform the Commission thereof, prior to the issuance of the letter of approval. This information shall be accompanied by a report of an independent verifier which verifies that any ERUs or CERs to be issued do not result in double counting, in doing so providing all necessary information ensuring that the project activities submitted for approval are in compliance with Article 11b of Directive 2003/87/EC.

2.   Letters of approval issued in accordance with Article 3(2) and letters of endorsement issued after the deadline for the notification of the national allocation plan set out in Article 9(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC for project activities that will result in trading sector project-reductions shall assign the allowances that are to be converted into assigned amount units from the set-aside established pursuant to Article 3(2) in the event of the issuance of ERUs or CERs. If an allowance was already assigned by a letter of approval to a particular project activity for future conversion, it cannot be reassigned to another project afterwards.

Article 7

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 13 November 2006.

For the Commission

Stavros DIMAS            

Member of the Commission

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(1)OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32. Directive as amended by Directive 2004/101/EC (OJ L 338, 13.11.2004, p. 18).

(2)OJ L 386, 29.12.2004, p. 1.

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ANNEX I

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(1)  List all project activities approved by the Member State.

(2)  Use the code assigned according to Annex VI, point 19 of Regulation (EC) No 2216/2004.

(3)  Give the total annual emissions that are expected to occur in the absence of the project activity, and the group of installations where these emissions are expected to occur. Attach a short description of the baseline applied. If more than one baseline is applied in the project activity, each baseline (with the corresponding total annual emissions expected in the absence of that part of the project activity) needs to be entered on a separate line in the set-aside table.

(4)  Provide a brief description of the method and data used for the estimate.

(5)  If more than one installation is to be listed in rows VII/a and VII/b, use separate rows. The share of each installation in the allowances in the set-aside is to be calculated separately.

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ANNEX II

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(1)  This information only needs to be provided if already available by the time of the submission of the national allocation plan. If no letter of endorsement was issued yet for a project activity, more project activities using the same methodology to reduce emissions may be grouped together under one column.

(2)  Use the code assigned according to Annex VI, point 19 of Regulation (EC) No 2216/2004.

(3)  Give the total annual emissions that are expected to occur in the absence of the project activity, and the group of installations where these emissions are expected to occur. Attach a short description of the baseline applied. If more than one baseline is applied in the project activity, each baseline (with the corresponding total annual emissions expected in the absence of that part of the project activity) needs to be entered on a separate line in the set-aside table.

(4)  Provide a brief description of the method and data used for the estimate.

(5)  If more than one item is to be listed in rows VII/a, VII/b and VIII, use separate rows. The share of the allowances provided by each installation for the set-aside is to be indicated separately.

(6)  Use the categories of activities defined in Annex I of Directive 2003/87/EC.

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