1999/296/EC: Council Decision of 26 April 1999 amending Decision 93/389/EEC for a monitoring mechanism of Community CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions
Date: 1999-04-26
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, air quality, climate change, environmental monitoring, greenhouse gas

5. 5. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 117/35

COUNCIL DECISION

of 26 April 1999
amending Decision 93/389/EEC for a monitoring mechanism of Community CO2
and other greenhouse gas emissions

(1999/296/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 130s(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 189c of the Treaty (3),

(1) Whereas all Member States and the Community are
Parties to the United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which, from
its entry into force on 21 March 1994, commits all
Parties to develop, periodically update, publish and
report to the Conference of the Parties national
inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources
and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not
controlled by the Montreal Protocol, using compar-
able methodologies agreed upon by the Conference
of the Parties;

(2) Whereas that same Convention commits all Parties
to formulate,
implement, publish and regularly
update national, and where appropriate, regional
programmes
to mitigate
containing measures
climate change by addressing anthropogenic emis-
sions by sources and removals by sinks of all green-
house gases not controlled by the Montreal
Protocol;

(3) Whereas the First Conference of the Parties to the
UNFCCC decided that Annex I Parties to the said
Convention should submit
secretariat
national inventory data on emissions by sources
and removals by sinks on an annual basis and that
the guidelines for national greenhouse gas invent-

to the

(1) OJ C 120, 18.4.1998, p. 22.
(2) OJ L 89, 19.3.1997, p. 7.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 18 September 1997
(OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 109), Council Common Position of
16 June 1998 (OJ C 333, 30.10.1998, p. 38) and Decision of
the European Parliament of 9 February 1999 (not yet
published in the Official Journal).

ories and technical guidelines for assessing climate
change impacts and adaptations adopted by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
should be used in preparing their reports pursuant
to the Convention;

to allow for

(4) Whereas it is necessary to amend Decision 93/
389/EEC (4)
the
the updating of
monitoring process,
in particular the post-2000
monitoring of greenhouse gas emission limitations
and reductions and its application to all anthropo-
genic greenhouse gas emissions not controlled by
the Montreal Protocol, in line with the obligations
the
of
the UNFCCC and taking into account
requirements of
to that
Convention, adopted by the Third Conference of
the Parties to the UNFCCC on 10 December 1997;

the Kyoto Protocol

(5) Whereas it is vital to be able to assess accurately
and regularly the extent of progress being made
towards the Community’s commitments under the
UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol to that Conven-
tion;

(6) Whereas the Community considers the monitoring
mechanism to be an essential instrument in the
assessment of this progress;

(7) Whereas the Kyoto Protocol requires Annex I
Parties to have made demonstrable progress in
achieving their commitments under the Protocol
by 2005;

(8) Whereas the provisions of the monitoring mech-
anism established under Decision 93/389/EEC
need to apply equally to anthropogenic emissions
by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse
gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol and
the monitoring process should continue to be
updated to reflect further decisions in the frame-
work of the Kyoto Protocol;

(4) OJ L 167, 9.7.1993, p. 31.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

5. 5. 1999

(9) Whereas it is recognised that the 31 July deadline
for reporting inventories provided for by Decision
93/389/EEC is difficult to meet for all Member
States;

reaffirmed the determination of

(10) Whereas at its meeting of 22 and 23 June 1995 the
Council
the
Community to meet its commitments under the
Convention and confirmed its conclusions of 29
October 1990, 15 and 16 December 1994 and 9
March 1995;

(11) Whereas Decision 93/389/EEC should be amended

accordingly,

(cid:190) the fulfilment of the Community’s commitments
relating to the limitation and/or reduction of all
greenhouse gas emissions not controlled by the
Montreal Protocol under
the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change and under the
Kyoto Protocol,

progress

projected

(cid:190) transparent and accurate monitoring of the actual
and
States,
including the contribution made by Community
measures, in meeting any agreed national contri-
butions to the Community’s commitments under
the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change and the Kyoto Protocol.

of Member

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Each Member State shall include in its national

2.
programme:

These programmes shall be periodically updated.

Article 1

Articles 1 to 8 of Decision 93/389/EEC shall be replaced
by the following:

‘Article 1

This Decision establishes a mechanism for:

(cid:190) monitoring all

anthropogenic greenhouse gas
emissions not controlled by the Montreal Protocol
in the Member States; and

(cid:190) evaluating progress towards meeting commitments

in respect of these emissions.

Article 2

National programmes

1.
The Member States shall devise, publish and
implement national programmes for limiting and/or
reducing their anthropogenic emissions by sources
and enhancing removals by sinks of all greenhouse
gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol in order
to contribute to:

(cid:190) the stabilisation of CO2

emissions by 2000 at 1990
levels in the Community as a whole, assuming
that other leading countries undertake commit-
ments along similar lines, and on the under-
standing that Member States which start from rel-
atively low levels of energy consumption and
therefore low emissions measured on a per capita
or other appropriate basis are entitled to have CO2
targets and/or strategies corresponding to their
economic
while
improving the energy efficiency of their economic
activities, as agreed at the Council meetings of 29
October 1990, 13 December 1991 and 15 and 16
December 1994,

development,

social

and

(a) estimates of the effect of policies and measures on
emissions and removals and incorporation of these
in projections for CO
and other greenhouse gases
2
not controlled by the Montreal Protocol between
the base year and 2000, in line with the reporting
requirements under the UN Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change;

(b) as a minimum for the six greenhouse gases listed
in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol (carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydro-
fluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and
sulphur hexafluoride (SF6

)),

(cid:190) its 1990 base year anthropogenic emissions of
carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide in
accordance with Article 3(1),

(cid:190) its 1990 and/or 1995 base year anthropogenic
emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocar-
bons and sulphur hexafluoride determined in
accordance with Article 3(1),

(cid:190) inventories of its anthropogenic emissions by
sources and removal by sinks, determined in
accordance with Article 3(1),

(cid:190) details of national policies

and measures
implemented or committed to since the base
year which contribute significantly to its efforts
to reduce emissions and enhance sinks of
greenhouse gases, organised by gas and by
sector and including the objective of
the
measure, the type of policy instrument used by
measure, the status of implementation of the
policy or measure as well as, where possible,
intermediate indicators of progress for policies
and measures,

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Official Journal of the European Communities

L 117/37

(cid:190) measures being taken or envisaged for the
implementation of relevant Community legis-
lation and policies,

(cid:190) estimates of the effect of policies and measures
on emissions and removals and incorporation
of these in projections:

(i) for the greenhouse gases listed in Annex A
to the Kyoto Protocol between the base
year and the period 2008 to 2012; and

(ii) to the extent possible, for the greenhouse
gases listed in Annex A to the Kyoto
Protocol between the base year and 2005,

in accordance with the procedure set out in
Article 8, on the basis of standard procedural
guidelines, including information for a quantit-
ative understanding of
the key assumptions
used to develop the said projections and the
methodology used for the provision of the esti-
mates,

(cid:190) an assessment of the economic impact of the
above measures, to the extent possible;

(c) information on the

following gases:

carbon
monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides
(NOx), non
methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs)
and sulphur oxides,
in line with the reporting
requirements under the UNFCCC, including:

(cid:190) data on emissions,

(cid:190) a description of policies and measures being
taken or envisaged for the limitation and/or
reduction of the emissions of these gases,

(cid:190) as

far as possible, estimates

for emissions
projections at regular intervals in the future
and as being agreed upon in accordance with
the procedure set out in Article 8, on the basis
of standard procedural guidelines,
including
information for a quantitative understanding of
the key assumptions and the methodology
used for the provision of the estimates.

Article 3

Inventories and data reporting

1. Member States shall determine their anthropo-
genic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of
all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal
Protocol, as specified in Article 2(2), in accordance
with the methodologies accepted by the IPCC and
agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties. They
shall be revised, in accordance with the procedure
to take fully into
under Article 8, as appropriate,

account any relevant future decisions by the Confer-
ence of the Parties.

2. Member States shall each year, not later than 31
December, report to the Commission their anthropo-
removal by sinks for
genic CO2
the previous calendar year.

emissions and CO
2

inventory
Member States shall also report national
data on emissions by sources and removals by sinks of
the other greenhouse gases referred to in Article 2(2)
on an annual basis. They shall report to the Commis-
sion by 31 December their final data for the previous
year but one, and provisional data for the previous
year.

Member States shall also report by 31 December on
the most recent projected emissions by sources and
removals by sinks of the greenhouse gases listed in
Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol for the period 2008 to
2012 and, as far as possible, for 2005.

The Commission shall take further steps to promote
the comparability and transparency of national
in-
ventories and reporting.

The Commission shall, in cooperation with the
3.
Member States, establish, on the basis of the informa-
tion provided by them, inventories of anthropogenic
greenhouse gas emissions and removal by sinks in the
Community. The Commission shall circulate to all
Member States by 1 March these inventories based on
data received in accordance with paragraph 2.

Article 4

Procedures and methods for evaluation

In accordance with the procedure referred to in
Article 8, the Commission shall establish procedures
and methods
evaluation of national
programmes as referred to in Article 6 and the
frequency of updating by the Member States.

the

for

Article 5

Evaluation of national programmes and of the
state of emissions in the Community

1. Member States shall forward to the Commission
already
existing national programmes not
their
forwarded,
already
of programmes
forwarded, within three months of receiving noti-
fication of this Decision.

updates

or

Future national programmes and their updates shall
be forwarded to the Commission within three months
of their adoption.

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5. 5. 1999

The Commission shall

forward to the other
2.
Member States the national programmes received
within one month of their reception.

3.
The Commission shall evaluate the national
programmes, in order to assess whether progress in
the Community as a whole is sufficient to ensure
fulfilment of the commitments referred to in Article
2(1).

The Commission shall report to the European
4.
Parliament and the Council the results of its evalu-
ation within six months of
the
national programmes.

the reception of

The European Environment Agency will assist
in
compiling this report as appropriate, in accordance
with its annual work programme.

Article 6

Evaluation of progress

The Commission shall assess annually in consultation
with Member States whether the actual and projected
progress of Member States, including the contribution
made by Community measures, towards fulfilling the
Community’s commitments under the UNFCCC and
the Kyoto Protocol is sufficient to ensure that the
Community and its Member States are on course to
fulfil their commitments and shall report to the Euro-
pean Parliament and the Council, on the basis of
information received under Articles 2, 3 and 5. The
Commission’s report shall be made available to the
European Parliament and the Council even in the
case of incomplete data being received from Member
States, and the Commission may include in this case
the best available data in the report, in consultation
with the Member State concerned.

Article 7

Other greenhouse gases

(deleted)

Article 8

Committee

The Commission shall be

1.
committee composed of

assisted by
the representatives of

Member States and chaired by the representative of
the Commission.

The representative of

2.
the Commission shall
submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be
taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on the
draft within a time limit which the chairman may lay
down according to the urgency of the matter. The
opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down
in Article 148(2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions
which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal
from the Commission. The votes of the representa-
tives of the Member States within the committee shall
be weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The
chairman shall not vote.

3.

(a) The Commission shall adopt

the measures
envisaged if they are in accordance with the
opinion of the committee.

(b) If the measures envisaged are not in accordance
with the opinion of the committee, or if no
opinion is delivered,
the Commission shall,
without delay, submit to the Council a proposal
relating to the measures to be taken. The
Council shall act by a qualified majority.

If, on the expiry of a period of three months
from the date of referral to the Council, the
Council has not acted, the proposed measures
shall be adopted by the Commission.'

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on 1 May 1999.

Article 3

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Luxembourg, 26 April 1999.

a
the

For the Council

The President

J. FISCHER