COMMISSION DECISION

of 13 December 2021

on instructing the Central Administrator of the European Union Transaction Log to enter the national aviation allocation tables of Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden into the European Union Transaction Log

(2022/C 74/04)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Union and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (1),

Having regard to Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 of 12 March 2019 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the functioning of the Union Registry (2), and in particular Article 49 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) By its Decision C(2020) 9188 (3), the Commission instructed the central administrator of the European Union Transaction Log to enter the national aviation allocation tables of Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden, for the years 2021-2023, into the European Union Transaction Log.

(2) In that Decision, the Commission considered that, following the expiry of the transitional period laid down in the Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community (4), flights between aerodromes situated in the territory of the European Union and aerodromes situated in the United Kingdom and flights between aerodromes situated in the United Kingdom were not subject to reporting and compliance obligations under the Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), in accordance with the temporary derogation, set in Article 28a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC, pursuant to which Member States should consider the requirements of that Directive regarding emissions from certain flights to and from aerodromes located in countries outside the territory of the European Economic Area (EEA) satisfied.

(3) An agreement between the Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was reached in December 2020 (5). The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (‘the Agreement’) was signed by the Union on the basis of Council Decision (EU) 2020/2252 (6) and was approved by the Union on the basis of Council Decision (EU) 2021/689 (7). The Agreement was provisionally applied until its entry into force on 1 May 2021 (8). The Agreement provides that each party is to have in place an effective system of carbon pricing that covers aviation and that flights from aerodromes situated in the territory of the EEA to aerodromes situated in the United Kingdom are to be regulated under the EU ETS.

(4) Pursuant to Article 28a(7) of Directive 2003/87/EC, the derogation in Article 28a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC is to apply only in line with the terms of the Agreement.

(5) On 17 June 2021, the Commission adopted Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1416 amending Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the exclusion from the EU ETS of incoming flights from the United Kingdom (9).

(6) It is therefore necessary to revise the number of aviation allowances allocated to each aircraft operator for the years 2021-2023 and upload the corresponding national aviation allocation tables into the European Union Transaction Log to take account of the inclusion in the scope of the EU ETS of flights departing from an aerodrome situated in the territory of the EEA and arriving at an aerodrome situated in the United Kingdom.

(7) Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden notified the national aviation allocation tables to the Commission.

(8) The Commission considers that the national aviation allocation tables notified by Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden are in accordance with Article 28a of Directive 2003/87/EC.

(9) The central administrator should therefore be instructed to upload the revised national aviation allocation tables in the European Union Transaction Log,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article The central administrator shall enter the national aviation allocation tables of Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden with the final annual amounts for the free allocation of aviation emission allowances for the period from 2021 to 2023, as set out in the Annex, in the European Union Transaction Log.

Done at Brussels, 13 December 2021. For the Commission Frans TIMMERMANS Executive Vice-President

(1) OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32.

(2) OJ L 177, 2.7.2019, p. 3.

(3) Commission Decision C(2020) 9188 of 16 December 2020 on instructing the central administrator to enter the national aviation allocation tables of Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden into the European Union Transaction Log.

(4) OJ C 384 I, 12.11.2019, p. 1.

(5) Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part (OJ L 444, 31.12.2020, p. 14).

(6) Council Decision (EU) 2020/2252 of 29 December 2020 on the signing, on behalf of the Union, and on provisional application of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information (OJ L 444, 31.12.2020, p. 2).

(7) Council Decision (EU) 2021/689 of 29 April 2021 on the conclusion, on behalf of the Union, of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information (OJ L 149, 30.4.2021, p. 2).

(8) Notice concerning the entry into force of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part, and of the Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified information (OJ L 149, 30.4.2021, p. 2560).

(9) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1416 of 17 June 2021 amending Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the exclusion of incoming flights from the United Kingdom from the Union emissions trading system (OJ L 305, 31.8.2021, p. 1).