COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Report to facilitate the calculation of the assigned amount of the European Union, and the report to facilitate the calculation of the joint assigned amount of the Union, its Member States and Iceland pursuant to Article 3(7bis), (8) and (8bis) of the Kyoto Protocol for the second commitment period, as required under Article 3(2) of Council Decision (EU) 2015/1339
Date: 2016-09-23
Institutions: Directorate-General for Climate Action, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, Iceland, Kyoto Protocol, emission trading, greenhouse gas, reduction of gas emissions, tradeable emission permit

EN 

   EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 23.9.2016  SWD(2016) 316 final   COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION Report to facilitate the calculation of the assigned amount of the European Union, and the report to facilitate the calculation of the joint assigned amount of the Union, its Member States and Iceland pursuant to Article 3(7bis), (8) and (8bis) of the Kyoto Protocol for the second commitment period, as required under Article 3(2) of Council Decision (EU) 2015/1339  {COM(2016) 618 final}  
 
 
STRUCTURE  

This document generally follows the structure and the requirements set out in Annex I to Decision 
2/CMP.8 (Implications of  the implementation  of  decisions 2/CMP.7 to 5/CMP.7 on the previous 
decisions  on  methodological  issues  related  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  including  those  relating  to 
Articles 5, 7 and 8 of the Kyoto Protocol).   

In addition, this document also reflects the additional guidance contained in Decision 3/CMP.11. 
This  decision  contains  relevant  provisions  related  to  reporting  and  accounting  for  the  second 
commitment  period  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  including  the  specification  of  elements  for  this 
report. Chapter 2 of this report presents the items of information as required above.  

The deadline for submitting the report to facilitate the calculation of the assigned amount for the 
second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol was originally 15 April 2015 in accordance 
with Decision 2/CMP.8 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to 
under the Kyoto Protocol.  

A functioning common reporting format (CRF) reporter software was not available for the GHG 
inventory  submissions  and  for  the  calculation  of  the  assigned  amount  in  2015.  According  to 
Decision 4/CMP.11 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the 
Kyoto Protocol, the CRF Reporter version 5.0.0 was not functioning in order to enable Annex I 
Parties to prepare their inventory submissions. In the same Decision, the CMP noted that a delay 
in the submission of the CRF tables by a Party also delays the submission of the report to facilitate 
the calculation of its assigned amount referred to in Decision 2/CMP.8, paragraph 2.   

2 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION  

The targets (quantified emission limitation commitments, QELRCs) for the Union and its Member 
States are listed in the Doha Amendment with a footnote stating that those targets are based on the 
understanding  that  they  will  be  fulfilled  jointly  by  the  European  Union  (EU)  and  its  Member 
States, in accordance with Article 4 of the Kyoto Protocol. The Union, its Member States at the 
time,  Croatia1  and  Iceland  also  issued  a  joint  declaration  upon  the  adoption  of  the  Doha 
Amendment,  expressing  their  intention  to  fulfil  their  commitments  in  the  second  commitment 
period jointly.2   

Article 4  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  requires  Parties  that  agree  to  fulfil  their  commitments  under 
Article 3  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  jointly  to  set  out  in  the  relevant  joint  fulfilment  agreement  the 
respective emission level allocated to each of the Parties. Council Decision (EU) 2015/1339 on the 
conclusion, on behalf of the EU, of the Doha Amendment to the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC 
and  the  joint  fulfilment  of  commitments  thereunder  (from  here  onwards  also  referred  to  as  "the 
ratification decision") sets out the terms of the joint fulfilment and the respective emission levels 
for the Union, the Member States and Iceland (Annex I to that Decision).3  Those emission levels 
were  determined  in  line  with  the  existing  responsibilities  under  EU  legislation  contained  in  the 
EU’s ‘Climate and Energy package’.  

Negotiations  between  the  EU  and  Iceland  on  the  joint  fulfilment  were  completed  in  June  2014. 
The agreement was signed on 1 April 2015 and approved on behalf of the Union on 13 July 20154 
(from  here  onwards  also  referred  to  as  the  "agreement  with  Iceland")  and  it  contains  the  same 
terms of the joint fulfilment as set out in Council Decision 2015/1339.  

In  the  ratification  decision,  the  Commission  is  tasked  to  prepare  the  report  to  facilitate  the 
calculation of the assigned amount of the Union and the report to facilitate the calculation of the 
joint assigned amount of the Union, its Member States and Iceland ("the joint assigned amount"). 
The Member States and Iceland will submit their own initial reports, which will determine their 
assigned amounts as equal to their emission levels as agreed under the joint fulfilment.  

The Kyoto Protocol requires the parties to a joint fulfilment agreement to notify the Convention 
Secretariat of the terms of that agreement on the date of deposit of their instruments of ratification 
or approval.  

1 Croatia only joined the EU on 1 July 2013, i.e. after the adoption of the Doha Amendment. 

2 FCCC/KP/CMP/2012/13/Add.1 

3 OJ L 207/1, 4.8.2015, p. 1 

4 Council Decision (EU) 2015/1340 of 13 July 2015 on the conclusion, on behalf of the European Union, of the 
Agreement between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and Iceland, of the other 
part, concerning Iceland’s participation in the joint fulfilment of commitments of the European Union, its 
Member States and Iceland for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations 
Framework Convention on Climate Change (OJ L 207/15, 4.8.2015, p. 15) 

3 

 
 
                                                 
2.  PROVISION OF INFORMATION 

2.1. 

Inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of 
greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol 

The annual greenhouse gas  inventory of the EU covers anthropogenic emissions  by sources and 
removals  by  sinks  of  greenhouse  gases  not  controlled  by  the  Montreal  Protocol  arising  on  the 
territory  of  the  Union,  calculated  as  the  sum  of  the  emissions  and  removals  of  the  28  Member 
States as reported in their respective national inventories.  For the purposes of the joint fulfilment 
of  the  EU,  its  Member  States  and  Iceland  under  the  second  commitment  period  of  the  Kyoto 
Protocol,  the  joint  greenhouse  gas  inventory  submitted  by  the  EU  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol 
reflects the sum of emissions and removals of the 28 Member States plus other non-EU territories 
that  are  part  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  and  Iceland  (from  here  onwards  referred  to  as  the  "joint 
inventory").   

The  complete  joint  inventory  of  anthropogenic  emissions  by  sources  and  removals  by  sinks  of 
greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol for all years from the base year to the 
year  2014  for  the  EU,  its  Member  States  and  Iceland  is  submitted  as  a  separate  document  in 
conjunction with this report in accordance with paragraph 1(a) of Annex I to Decision 2/CMP.8. 
The greenhouse gas inventory is reported based on the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual 
greenhouse  gas  inventories,  the  guidelines  for  the  preparation  of  information  required  under 
Article 7 of  the Kyoto  Protocol  (Decision  15/CMP.1 and  Annex III  of Decision  3/CMP.11)  and 
the  guidance  for  reporting  information  on  activities  under  Article  3(3)  and  (4),  of  the  Kyoto 
Protocol (Decision 6/CMP.9).   

2.1.1.  Geographical  coverage  of  the  joint  inventory  under  the  second 

commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol 

The joint inventory under the Kyoto Protocol covers the geographical coverage of the 28 Member 
States and Iceland under the Kyoto Protocol as specified in the table below:  

Table 2-1 Geographical coverage of the joint inventory under the Kyoto Protocol 

Member 
State 
Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech 
Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 

Geographical coverage 

Austria 
Belgium consisting of Flemish Region, Walloon Region and Brussels Region 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Republic of Cyprus (Area of the Republic of Cyprus under the effective control 
of the Government of the Republic of Cyprus) 

Czech Republic 

Denmark excluding Greenland and the Faeroe Islands.  
Estonia 
Finland including Åland Islands  

4 

 
 
Member 
State 

Geographical coverage 

The geographical scope of the inventory under the Kyoto Protocol for the year 
2013 is without Mayotte i. e. Metropolitan France, the overseas departments 
(Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana and Réunion) and 2 overseas communities 
(Saint Barthélemy and Saint-Martin), excluding the other French overseas 
communities (French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon 
and Mayotte) and overseas territories (the French Southern and Antarctic 
Lands) and New Caledonia 
The geographical scope of the inventory under the Kyoto Protocol for the 
period 2014-2020 is with Mayotte i. e. Metropolitan France, the overseas 
departments (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Guyana, Réunion and Mayotte) and 2 
overseas communities (Saint Barthélemy and Saint-Martin), excluding the 
other French overseas communities (French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, 
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon) and overseas territories (the French Southern and 
Antarctic Lands) and New Caledonia 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 

France 

Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg  Luxembourg 
Malta 

Malta 
The legal territory of the Netherlands used in the inventory includes a 12-mile 
zone from the coastline and also inland water bodies. It excludes Aruba and the 
Netherlands Antilles, which are self-governing dependencies of the Royal 
Kingdom of The Netherlands. Emissions from offshore oil and gas production 
on the Dutch part of the continental shelf are included. 
Poland 
Mainland Portugal and the two Autonomous regions of Madeira and Azores 
Islands 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spanish part of Iberian mainland, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and 
Melilla 
Sweden 
The territorial coverage has been extended to include complete coverage of 
emissions for the UK’s Crown Dependencies and those UK Overseas 
Territories that joined the UK’s ratifications of the UNFCCC and the Kyoto 
Protocol during its first commitment period. The final extent of territorial 
coverage for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol has yet to 
be fully determined, as it will depend on which of the UK’s Crown 
Dependencies and Overseas Territories join the UK’s ratification in respect of 
the second commitment period. 
Iceland 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

United 
Kingdom 

Iceland 

5 

 
 
 
2.1.2.  Greenhouse gas inventory for 1990-2014 

The information described below is taken from the joint inventory, which covers the sum of the 
inventories of the Member States and Iceland for all emissions and removals of greenhouse gases 
on the territory of the Member States and Iceland subject to the emission reduction commitments 
under the Kyoto Protocol (see 2.1.1 above).  Under the terms of the joint fulfilment, the combined 
base  year  emissions  of  the  EU,  its  Member  States  and  Iceland  equal  the  sum  of  emissions  and 
removals  in  the  respective  base  years  chosen  by  each  Member  State  and  Iceland  plus  any 
emissions  resulting  from  the  application  of  Kyoto  Protocol  Article  3(7bis)  (from  here  onwards 
referred to as the "combined base year").  The information on the calculation and choices for the 
combined base year is contained in section 2.2. 

In 2014, the total combined GHG emissions, without LULUCF, were 4 290 million tonnes CO2 
equivalents,  or  24.4%  below  1990  levels  (Figure  1).  Compared  to  the  combined  base  year, 
emissions  in  2014  were  27.0%  lower  (Figure  2).  Under  the  Doha  Amendment  of  the  Kyoto 
Protocol,  the  EU,  its  Member  States  and  Iceland  have  agreed  to  jointly  reduce  their  combined 
average  annual  emissions  during  2013-2020  by  20%  compared  to  their  combined  base  year 
emission levels. Table 2-2 shows the combined GHG emissions of Member States and Iceland.  

Figure 2.1 Combined GHG emissions for the period 1990-2014 (excluding LULUCF) in Mt 
CO2eq 

6 

4,29001000200030004000500060001990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014Mt CO2eq 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 2-2 Greenhouse gas emissions in Mt CO2 equivalents for the Member States, the EU and Iceland (excl. LULUCF)  

Member State 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Base 
year 

78.9 

147.8 

114.6 

31.2 

5.7 

1990 

78.8 

146.0 

104.0 

34.8 

5.7 

1995 

79.8 

154.0 

73.5 

24.4 

7.1 

2000 

80.4 

149.2 

58.3 

27.0 

8.4 

2005 

92.8 

144.8 

62.7 

31.1 

9.3 

2006 

90.0 

141.0 

63.3 

31.5 

9.6 

2007 

87.2 

136.5 

67.2 

33.0 

9.9 

2008 

87.1 

138.7 

66.0 

31.7 

10.1 

2009 

80.2 

125.8 

57.1 

29.7 

9.9 

2010 

84.9 

133.3 

59.8 

29.0 

9.6 

2011 

82.6 

122.8 

65.1 

28.4 

9.3 

2012 

79.9 

118.8 

60.0 

26.1 

8.7 

2013 

80.0 

119.4 

54.9 

25.0 

8.0 

2014 

76.3 

113.9 

57.2 

24.5 

8.4 

Czech Republic  199.3 

199.3 

158.1 

150.9 

148.7 

150.5 

151.3 

146.5 

138.0 

140.2 

138.8 

134.7 

130.7 

125.9 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

107.7 

109.6 

56.4 

521.9 

26.2 

47.1 

12.9 

2.0 

71.0 

40.0 

71.4 

70.7 

40.0 

71.3 

78.6 

19.9 

71.8 

71.1 

17.1 

70.0 

66.7 

18.3 

69.5 

548.1 

548.1 

547.0 

554.3 

554.8 

1 249.9 

1 246.1 

1 118.5 

1 041.1 

989.9 

104.8 

110.8 

127.7 

136.0 

94.1 

56.2 

75.7 

59.9 

73.6 

69.3 

75.9 

70.4 

74.5 

17.7 

80.7 

543.1 

997.2 

132.2 

74.9 

69.8 

69.8 

20.8 

79.2 

534.0 

970.2 

135.0 

73.1 

69.1 

66.2 

19.4 

71.3 

527.2 

972.1 

131.3 

71.3 

68.5 

63.2 

16.2 

67.7 

506.5 

904.7 

124.8 

65.1 

62.9 

63.6 

19.9 

75.9 

514.5 

939.4 

118.7 

65.5 

62.3 

58.4 

20.5 

68.0 

487.0 

920.2 

115.7 

63.8 

58.2 

53.5 

19.4 

62.4 

488.4 

924.7 

112.2 

60.1 

58.7 

55.5 

21.7 

63.3 

486.5 

943.5 

104.7 

57.6 

58.5 

51.2 

21.1 

59.1 

458.9 

900.2 

101.4 

57.2 

58.3 

521.9 

533.4 

554.5 

578.9 

569.1 

561.1 

549.5 

498.9 

508.4 

494.8 

468.7 

438.9 

418.6 

26.2 

47.1 

12.9 

2.0 

12.8 

21.6 

10.1 

2.5 

10.4 

18.7 

9.7 

2.6 

11.4 

22.3 

13.0 

3.0 

11.9 

22.6 

12.9 

3.1 

12.4 

24.6 

12.3 

3.2 

11.9 

23.7 

12.2 

3.2 

11.1 

19.3 

11.6 

3.1 

12.3 

20.1 

12.2 

3.1 

11.5 

20.6 

12.1 

3.2 

11.4 

20.4 

11.8 

3.3 

11.3 

19.1 

11.2 

3.0 

11.3 

19.0 

10.8 

3.0 

Netherlands 

224.6 

222.2 

232.2 

220.3 

214.4 

209.4 

208.3 

207.7 

201.9 

213.8 

200.0 

195.3 

195.0 

187.1 

7 

 
 
Member State 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

Base 
year 

579.9 

65.0 

301.1 

74.7 

20.3 

288.7 

72.1 

United Kingdom  803.7 

1990 

472.9 

60.7 

251.9 

74.7 

18.6 

285.9 

71.9 

799.8 

1995 

445.2 

71.4 

182.8 

54.7 

18.8 

325.7 

74.0 

752.2 

2000 

392.2 

84.0 

140.5 

49.9 

19.1 

385.1 

68.9 

717.3 

2005 

396.9 

88.2 

146.6 

51.5 

20.5 

438.5 

67.0 

695.7 

2006 

411.0 

83.1 

148.9 

51.4 

20.7 

431.3 

66.9 

690.0 

2007 

410.9 

80.6 

146.3 

49.5 

20.8 

440.1 

65.4 

677.7 

2008 

402.8 

78.3 

141.2 

50.2 

21.5 

409.0 

63.1 

657.7 

2009 

385.5 

75.2 

123.5 

45.6 

19.6 

371.5 

59.1 

599.3 

2010 

406.2 

70.4 

117.0 

46.5 

19.6 

360.8 

65.0 

613.9 

2011 

403.3 

68.9 

121.7 

45.7 

19.6 

360.4 

61.0 

565.7 

2012 

396.9 

67.1 

120.1 

43.3 

19.0 

355.4 

57.6 

582.6 

2013 

393.4 

65.0 

110.0 

42.9 

18.3 

327.4 

55.9 

569.8 

2014 

380.3 

64.6 

109.8 

40.6 

16.6 

328.9 

54.4 

527.2 

EU-28 

Iceland 

5 873.9 

5 668.7 

5 316.6 

5 171.5 

5 219.0 

5 208.1 

5 149.5 

5 039.3 

4 676.7 

4 786.0 

4 627.1 

4 560.5 

4 470.6 

4 285.6 

3.6 

3.6 

3.4 

4.0 

3.9 

4.5 

4.7 

5.1 

4.9 

4.7 

4.5 

4.6 

4.5 

4.6 

EU-28+Iceland  5 877.6 

5 154.2 
Note: The base year presented includes the emissions from deforestation in the base year for Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal and 
the United Kingdom in accordance with Article 3.7bis of the Doha amendment to the Kyoto Protocol.  

4 475.2 

5 672.3 

5 320.0 

5 175.5 

5 222.9 

5 212.6 

5 044.5 

4 681.6 

4 790.7 

4 631.6 

4 565.0 

4 290.2 

8 

 
 
 
2.2. 

Identification of base years for the second commitment period 

The joint inventory reflects the base years as chosen by the Member States and Iceland in their 
national  inventories.  The  sections  below  provide  information  on  these  choices.  Table  2-3 
provides an overview of Member States’ and Iceland’s base years. 

2.2.1.  Base year for CO2, N2O and CH4  

For  carbon  dioxide  (CO2),  methane  (CH4)  and  nitrous  oxide  (N2O)  all  Member  States  and 
Iceland use 1990 as base year with the following exceptions: 

  The base year for Slovenia is 1986.  

  The base year for Bulgaria and Poland is 1988. 

  The base year for Romania is 1989.  

  The base year for Hungary is the average of the years 1985 to 1987. 

The choice of these different base years for these Member States is based on Article 4(6) of 
the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change. These are the same base years 
for these gases as in the first commitment period, apart from Cyprus and Malta who did not 
have a QELRC in the first commitment period and hence have identified their base year for 
the first time under the second commitment period.  

2.2.2.  Base  year 

for  hydrofluorocarbons,  perfluorocarbons,  sulphur 

hexafluoride in accordance with Article 3(8) of the Kyoto Protocol  

For  hydrofluorocarbons,  perfluorocarbons  and  sulphur  hexafluoride,  the  choice  of  base  year 
for the Member States and Iceland remains as in the first commitment period (see Table 2-3 
below). Cyprus and Malta did not have to identify a base year in the first commitment period. 
They selected 1990 as base year for these gases.  

2.2.3.  Base year for nitrogen trifluoride in accordance with Article 3(8bis) 

of the Kyoto Protocol 

According  to  Article  3(8bis)  of  the  Doha  Amendment  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  any  Party 
included in Annex I may use 1995 or 2000 as its base year for nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) for 
the purposes of the calculation referred to in paragraph 7 bis. The base year choices of the 28 
Member States and Iceland related to NF3 are documented in Table 2-3  below. Most Member 
States have selected 1995. 

Table 2-3 Choice of base years for different greenhouse gases for the EU Member States 
and Iceland for the second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol   

Member State 

Base year for CO2, 
CH4 and N2O 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 

1990 
1990 
1988 
1990 
1990 
1990 

year 

Base 
HFCs, 
and SF6 
1990 
1995 
1995 
1990 
1995 
1995 

9 

Base year for NF3 

for 
PFCs  

2000 
1995 
1995 
2000 
1995 
1995 

 
 
Member State 

Base year for CO2, 
CH4 and N2O 

Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 

1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1985-1987 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1988 
1990 
1989 
1990 
1986 
1990 
1990 
1990 
1990 

year 

Base 
HFCs, 
and SF6 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1990 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1990 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1990 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1989 
1990 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1990 

Base year for NF3 

for 
PFCs  

1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
2000 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
2000 
2000 
2000 
2000 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 
1995 

Based on the choices documented in Table 2-3, the combined base year emissions for the joint 
fulfilment  for  each  gas  is  the  sum  of  the  base  year  emissions  of  the  gas  concerned  in  28 
Member States plus the emissions from Iceland in its base year. 

2.3.  Terms of the joint fulfilment under Article 4 of the Kyoto Protocol for 

the second commitment period 

The  Kyoto  Protocol,  under  Article  4,  provides  the  option  for  Parties  to  fulfil  their 
commitments under Article 3 jointly.  

The European Union and its Member States already made use of this option during the first 
commitment period (2008-2012), fulfilling their respective commitments under Article 3 (1) 
of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  jointly  as  a  bloc  of  15  countries,  which  were  Member  States  of  the 
Union at the time the Kyoto Protocol was ratified.  

For  the  second  commitment  period,  upon  adoption  of  the  Doha  amendment  to  the  Kyoto 
Protocol, the European Union, its Member States and Iceland stated that the European Union 
and  its  28  Member  States  again  intend  to  fulfil  their  reduction  targets  under  the  second 
commitment period jointly5.  

The  ratification  decision  (Council  Decision  (EU)  2015/1339)  sets  out  the  terms  of  the  joint 
fulfilment between the Union and its Member States and Iceland.  The same terms are integral 
part  of the Agreement between the European Union and its Member States,  of the one part, 
and Iceland, of the other part, concerning Iceland's participation in the joint fulfilment of the 

5  Declaration made  in  footnotes  4,  6  and 8  to  Annex  B  of  the  Doha  Amendment  and  Council  Decisions 

(EU) 2015/1339 and 2015/1340 

10 

 
 
 
                                                 
commitments  of  the  European  Union,  its  Member  States  and  Iceland  in  the  second 
commitment  period  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  in  accordance  with  Council  Decision  (EU) 
2015/1340.   

Members of the joint fulfilment agreement for the second commitment period 

The  EU  its  Member  States  and  the  Republic  of  Iceland  are  members  of  this  agreement 
(referred  to  as  ‘the  members’).  The  following  States  are  at  present  Member  States  of  the 
European Union: the Kingdom of Belgium, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the 
Kingdom of Denmark, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Republic of Estonia, Ireland, the 
Hellenic Republic, the Kingdom of Spain, the French Republic, the Republic of Croatia, the 
Italian Republic, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, 
the  Grand  Duchy  of  Luxembourg,  Hungary,  the  Republic  of  Malta,  the  Kingdom  of  the 
Netherlands,  the  Republic  of  Austria,  the  Republic  of  Poland,  the  Portuguese  Republic, 
Romania,  the  Republic  of  Slovenia,  the  Slovak  Republic,  the  Republic  of  Finland,  the 
Kingdom of Sweden, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 

Iceland  participates  in  this  agreement  pursuant  to  the  agreement  with  Iceland  concerning 
Iceland’s participation in the joint fulfilment of the commitments of the EU, its Member States 
and  Iceland  in  the  second  commitment  period  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  to  the  United  Nations 
Framework Convention on Climate Change.  

Provisions of the joint fulfilment relevant to the calculation of the assigned amounts 

The  joint  assigned  amount  is  calculated  pursuant  to  the  quantified  emission  limitation  and 
reduction  commitment  listed  in  the  third  column  of  the  table  contained  in  Annex  B  to  the 
Kyoto  Protocol  and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  Article  3  thereof.    The  assigned 
amounts of the members are determined in accordance with the terms of the joint fulfilment 
(see sections 2.3.1 and 2.4 below). 

The  combined  base  year  emissions  of  the  members  to  the  joint  fulfilment  equal  the  sum  of 
emissions in the respective base years applicable to each Member State and Iceland.  

If land use, land-use change and forestry constituted a net source of greenhouse gas emissions 
in 1990 for any Member State or Iceland, that member shall, pursuant to Article 3(7bis) of the 
Kyoto  Protocol,  include  in  its  emissions  base  year  or  period  the  aggregate  anthropogenic 
carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by sources minus removals by sinks in the base year or 
period from land-use change (deforestation) for the purpose of calculating the joint assigned 
amount of the members determined in accordance with Article 3 (7bis), (8) and (8bis) of the 
Kyoto Protocol. 

The  calculation  pursuant  to  Article  3(7ter)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  shall  apply  to  the  joint 
assigned amount of the second commitment period  determined in  accordance with Article 3 
(7bis),  (8)  and  (8bis)  of  the  Protocol  and  the  sum  of  the  average  annual  emissions  of  the 
members for the first three years of the first commitment period multiplied by eight.  

2.3.1.  Respective  emission  levels  allocated  to  the  members  to  the  joint 

fulfilment 

The joint quantified emission limitation and reduction commitment for the members listed in 
the  third  column  of  Annex  B  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  the  EU,  its  28  Member  States  and 
Iceland is 80%. The joint assigned amount of the Members is determined pursuant to Article 

11 

 
 
3(7bis),  (8)  and  (8bis)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  on  the  basis  of  the  combined  base  year  (see 
section 2.4). 

The respective emission levels of the members to the joint fulfilment are as follows: 

  The emission level and assigned amount for the EU is the difference between the 
joint assigned amount of the members, and the sum of the emission levels of the 
Member States and Iceland.  

  The  assigned  amount  of  the  EU  is  counted  against  the  emissions  of  greenhouse 
gases  listed  in  Annex  A  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol  that  are  also  covered  by  the  EU 
Emissions  Trading  System  (EU  ETS)  pursuant  to  Directive  2009/29/EC  of  the 
European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  amending  Directive  2003/87/EC6  so  as 
to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme of 
the  Community.  The  sectors  covered  by  the  EU  Emissions  Trading  System  are 
those specified in Annex I of the EU ETS Directive and taking into account the 
application of its Articles 24 and 27.  

  The emission levels of the Member States and Iceland cover the emissions from 
sectors  and  gases  listed  in  Annex  A  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol  not  covered  by 
Directive  2009/29/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  amending 
Directive 2003/87/EC so as to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission 
allowance  trading  scheme  of  the  Community.  This  includes  all  emissions  from 
sources and removals by sinks covered by Article 3(3) and (4) of the Protocol as 
well  as  all  emissions  of  nitrogen  trifluoride  (NF3)  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol. 
These emission levels are no longer derived as a reduction percentage compared 
to  base  year  emissions  as  in  the  first  commitment  period,  but  as  an  absolute 
figure, expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents listed for each Member 
State and Iceland. The figure for individual Member States is equal to the sum of 
each  Member  State’s  Annual  Emissions  Allocation  under  Decision  No 
406/2009/EC  on  the  effort  of  Member  States  to  reduce  their  greenhouse  gas 
emissions  to  meet  the  Community’s  greenhouse  gas  emission  reduction 
commitments  up  to  2020  (Effort  Sharing  Decision)  for  the  years  2013  to  2020 
before the application of Article 3(7bis).7  The respective emission levels of the 
28  Member  States  and  Iceland  in  accordance  with  Article  4(1)  and  (5)  of  the 
Protocol and before application of Article 3(7bis) are listed in Table 2-4 

Table 2-4 Emission levels of the Member States and Iceland set out in the terms of the 
joint fulfilment  before application of  Article 3(7bis)  for the  second commitment period 
under the Kyoto Protocol 

Country 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Germany 
Estonia 

Emission level [tonnes of CO2eq.] 

584 228 513 
222 945 983 
520 515 203 
269 321 526 
3 592 699 888 
51 056 976 

6 OJ L140, 5.6.2009, p. 63 

7 OJ L140, 5.6.2009, p. 136 

12 

 
 
                                                 
Country 
Ireland 
Greece 
Spain 
France 
Croatia 
Italy 
Cyprus 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Hungary 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Austria 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovenia 
Slovakia 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 

Emission level [tonnes of CO2eq.] 

343 467 221 
480 791 166 
1 766 877 232 
3 014 714 832 
162 271 086 
2 410 291 421 
47 450 128 
76 633 439 
113 600 821 
70 736 832 
434 486 280 
9 299 769 
919 963 374 
405 712 317 
1 583 938 824 
402 210 711 
656 059 490 
99 425 782 
202 268 939 
240 544 599 
315 554 578 
2 743 362 625 
15 327 217 

The terms of the joint fulfilment determine that the assigned amounts of the members shall be 
equal to their respective emission levels, adjusted for Article 3(7bis) of the Kyoto Protocol. 

The  assessment  of  compliance  of  the  joint  fulfilment  at  the  end  of  the  second  commitment 
period does not require changes to the annual inventory reporting.  The EU, the 28 Member 
States and Iceland will continue to report individually on emissions by sources and removals 
by sinks, submitting full greenhouse gas inventories covering all anthropogenic emissions by 
sources  and  removals  by  sinks  for  gases  listed  on  Annex  A  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol  and  all 
source categories covered by the UNFCCC reporting guidelines occurring on their territories 
under the Kyoto Protocol.    

The  EU  will  report  in  its  national  inventory  report  on  the  combined  emissions  of  the  28 
Member States and Iceland (see also section 2.1 above).   

2.4.  Calculation of the assigned amounts pursuant to Article 3(7bis), (8) and 

(8bis)  

As  previously  stated,  the  combined  base  year  emissions  of  the  EU,  its  Member  States  and 
Iceland are equal to the sum of the respective base year emissions of the 28 Member States 
and Iceland. The combined base year emissions represent the aggregate sum, taking account 
of the choice of base years for CO2, N2O, CH4, HFCs, PFCs, SF6 and NF3 for each Member 
State, as provided in Table 2-3.  

Table 2-5 presents the base year emissions as well as the net emissions in the base year/period 
reported in relation to the conversion of forests (deforestation) that are be included in the base 
year  emissions  for  those  countries  for  whom  land-use  change  and  forestry  constituted  a  net 
source of greenhouse gas emissions in the base year/period in accordance with Article 3(7bis) 
of the Kyoto Protocol and , paragraph 5(b) of the Annex to Decision 13/CMP.1 as replaced by 

13 

 
 
 
paragraph 2 of Annex I to Decision 3/CMP.11.  The latter are also included in the calculation 
of the joint base year emissions.  

Table  2-5  Base  year  emissions  of  the  EU  Member  States  and  Iceland,  calculated 
pursuant to Article 3(7bis) 

Member State 

Base 
emissions 

year 

Net  emissions  in  1990  due  to 
deforestation 
where 
LULUCF  sector 
is  a  net 
source of emissions 

tonnes CO2 equivalent 

base 

Final 
emissions, 
application 
3(7bis) 

year 
after 
of  Art. 

Combined 
year emissions 

base 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Iceland 

5 873 451 818 

5 517 296 

5 879 036 636 

78 855 136 

147 811 094 

114 582 372 

31 204 631 

5 646 847 

199 266 852 

70 973 233 

39 996 697 

71 350 147 

548 086 318 

1 249 872 158 

107 674 753 

109 574 819 

56 417 601 

521 920 601 

26 311 539 

47 215 485 

12 889 364 

2 000 252 

223 818 012 

580 020 010 

60 689 753 

304 651 060 

74 504 046 

20 327 584 

288 694 596 

72 057 123 

803 473 698 

3 633 558 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

6 583 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

8 340 

0 

0 

0 

227 296 

0 

752 270 

0 

4 276 759 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

246 048 

0 

78 855 136 

147 811 095 

114 582 372 

31 204 631 

5 646 847 

199 266 852 

70 979 816 

39 996 697 

71 350 147 

548 086 318 

1 249 872 158 

107 674 753 

109 574 819 

56 425 940 

521 920 601 

26 311 539 

47 215 485 

13 116 660 

2 000 252 

224 570 282 

580 020 010 

64 966 512 

304 651 060 

74 504 046 

20 327 584 

288 694 596 

72 057 123 

803 719 746 

3 633 558 

Note: All figures were rounded to tons in the calculation of base year emissions. 

Base  year  emissions  and  net  emissions  in  1990  due  to  deforestation  are  derived  from  GHG 
inventory  submissions  in  2016.  The  calculation  of  the  net  emissions  from  deforestation 
includes all emissions and removals in 1990 reported in the categories forest land converted to 

14 

 
 
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
other land uses calculated as deforestation emissions from land areas deforested in 1990, plus 
any emissions and removals from land areas deforested in the previous 19 years (as these land 
areas  continue  to  be  accounted  for  under  deforestation  for  20  years  in  accordance  with  the 
accounting rules under the Kyoto Protocol), plus non-CO2 emissions reported in CRF tables 
4.I to 4.V that are related to deforestation. 

If reported, base year emissions include indirect CO2 emissions to ensure consistency with the 
scope of reported greenhouse gas emissions in the first commitment period. 

Pursuant to Article 3(7bis), (8) and (8bis) of the Kyoto Protocol and paragraph 2 of Annex I to 
Decision  3/CMP.11  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  the  assigned  amount  for  the  second 
commitment period shall be equal to the percentage inscribed in the third column of Annex B 
to the Kyoto Protocol of the aggregate anthropogenic carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of 
greenhouse gases from the sources listed in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol in the base year or 
period  multiplied  by  eight,  taking  into  account  Article  3(7bis)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  as 
explained above. This method of calculation is applied to the calculation of the joint assigned 
amount only.  It does not apply to the calculation of the individual assigned amounts for the 
Union,  the  Member  States  individually,  or  Iceland.    Thus,  the  calculations  of  the  base  year 
emissions do not play a role in the calculation of their individual assigned amounts, which are 
instead determined pursuant to the joint fulfilment agreement. 

This calculation results in a joint assigned amount of 37 616 498 648 tonnes CO2eq. for the 
EU, its Member States and Iceland (see Table 2-6). As was the case for the first commitment 
period, the joint assigned amount units will not be issued separately but instead the assigned 
amounts of each member of the joint fulfilment agreement and the assigned amount of the EU 
are recorded in the compilation and accounting database and the EU and each of the Member 
States  and  Iceland  can  issue  their  respective  assigned  amount  units  in  their  respective 
registries. 

Table 2-6 Calculation of the joint assigned amount  

Combined  base 
year emissions  

Of  which 
are 
emissions  in  1990 
due 
to 
deforestation 
(Article 
Kyoto Protocol) 

3(7bis) 

Emission 
reduction 
commitment  as  laid  down 
in  the  third  column  of 
the  Doha 
Annex  1  of 
amendment  to  the  Kyoto 
Protocol 

Calculated 
joint  assigned 
amount  for  the 
2013-
period 
2020 

tonnes CO2eq. 

tonnes CO2eq. 

% 

tonnes CO2eq. 

European  Union, 
Member 
States 
plus Iceland 

5 873 451 818 

5 517 296 

80% 

37 625 402 324 

The respective assigned amounts of each Member State and Iceland are equal to the emission 
levels  agreed  under  the  terms  of  the  joint  fulfilment,  listed  in  Annex  2  of  the  ratification 
decision  and  the  results  of  the  application  of  the  second  sentence  of  Article  3(7bis)  of  the 
Kyoto protocol for that Member State or Iceland.  This is in accordance with paragraph 5(c) of 
the annex to Decision 13/CMP.1 of the Kyoto Protocol as replaced by paragraph 2 of Decision 
3/CMP.11  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  which  requires  that  “those  Parties  that  have  reached  an 
agreement  in  accordance  with  Article  4  to  fulfil  their  commitments  under  Article  3  jointly 

15 

 
 
  
  
 
shall  use  the  respective  emission  level  allocated  to  each  of  the  Parties  in  that  agreement 
instead of the percentage inscribed for it in the third column of Annex B”. The final assigned 
amounts for each Member State and Iceland are shown in Table 2-7. The individual assigned 
amounts  of  each  Member  State  and  Iceland  shall  be  issued  in  the  Kyoto  registry  of  the 
respective Member States and Iceland. 

Table 2-7 

Assigned amounts for individual Member States and Iceland  

Member 
and Iceland 

States 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark* 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland* 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands* 

Poland 

Portugal* 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

United Kingdom* 

Iceland 

Assigned 
eq. taking into account Article 3 (7bis) 

tonnes  CO2 

amount 

in 

405 712 317 

584 228 513 

222 945 983 

162 271 086 

47 450 128 

520 515 203 

269 363 657 

51 056 976 

240 544 599 

3 014 714 832 

3 592 699 888 

480 791 166 

434 486 280 

343 520 594 

2 410 291 421 

76 633 439 

113 600 821 

72 191 526 

9 299 769 

924 777 902 

1 583 938 824 

429 581 969 

656 059 490 

202 268 939 

99 425 782 

1 766 877 232 

315 554 578 

2 744 937 332 

15 327 217 

Note: * Member States for which net emissions from deforestation in the base year were added to the base year emissions in 
the assigned amount calculation  
For the calculation all figures were rounded to tons. 

16 

 
 
 
The assigned amount of the EU is the difference between the joint assigned amount calculated 
in Table 2-6 and the sum of the assigned amounts of the Member States and Iceland in Table 
2-7 and amounts to 15 826 887 124 tonnes CO2eq (see calculation in Table 2-8). The assigned 
amount of the EU shall be issued in the Kyoto registry of the EU. 

Table 2-8 Assigned amount of the European Union 

Assigned amounts 

A. Joint assigned amount 

tonnes CO2eq 

37 625 402 324 

B. Sum of assigned amounts of Member States and Iceland  21 791 067 463 

C. Assigned amount of the European Union (A-B) 

15 834 334 860 

Note: For the calculation all figures were rounded to tons. 

For the assessment of compliance with the joint fulfilment agreement at the end of the second 
commitment period, the total GHG emissions of the EU, its Member States and Iceland from 
sources  listed  in  Annex  A  to  the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  the  period  2013  to  2020  shall  be 
compared  to  the  total  amount  of  Kyoto  units  retired  in  the  Kyoto  registries  of  the  EU,  its 
Member States and Iceland. 

2.5.  Calculation of the commitment period reserve for the European Union 

in accordance with Decision 11/CMP.1  

Parties  are  required  by  Decision  11/CMP.1  under  the  Kyoto  Protocol  and  paragraph  18  of 
Decision  1/CMP.8  to  establish  and  maintain  a  commitment  period  reserve  as  part  of  their 
responsibility  to  manage  and  account  for  their  assigned  amount.  The  commitment  period 
reserve  equals  the  lower  of  either  90%  of  a  Party’s  assigned  amount  pursuant  to  Article 
3(7bis), (8) and (8bis) or 100% of its most recently reviewed inventory, multiplied by 8.  

For the purposes of the joint fulfilment, the commitment period reserve applies to the EU, its 
Member States and Iceland individually.  

Table  2-9  provides  a  calculation  using  both  methods  to  calculate  the  commitment  period 
reserve.  The  last  column  presents  the  commitment  period  reserve  applicable  for  the  second 
commitment  period  for  the  EU  and  for  each  Member  State  and  Iceland  based  on  the  lower 
value resulting from the two methods.  

17 

 
 
 
Table  2-9 Commitment  period  reserve  of  the  European  Union  and  the  EU-28 Member 
States and Iceland 

Assigned  amount 
for 
second 
commitment 
period 
tonnes CO2eq. 

90%  of  assigned 
amount 

of  most 
100% 
recently 
reviewed 
inventory  multiplied 
by 8 

Commitment 
period reserve 

15 834 334 860 

21 777 272 968 

34 284 967 695 

21 777 272 968 

European 
Union 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

405 712 317 

365 141 085 

584 228 513 

525 805 662 

222 945 983 

200 651 385 

162 271 086 

146 043 977 

47 450 128 

42 705 115 

610 660 949 

910 932 952 

457 577 755 

183 191 025 

67 154 564 

Czech Republic  520 515 203 

468 463 683 

1 007 079 816 

Denmark 

269 363 657 

242 427 291 

51 056 976 

45 951 278 

240 544 599 

216 490 139 

409 353 224 

168 473 921 

472 840 617 

365 141 085 

525 805 662 

200 651 385 

146 043 977 

42 705 115 

468 463 683 

242 427 291 

45 951 278 

216 490 139 

3 014 714 832 

2 713 243 349 

3 671 193 181 

2 713 243 349 

Germany 

3 592 699 888 

3 233 429 899 

7 201 617 232 

3 233 429 899 

480 791 166 

432 712 049 

434 486 280 

391 037 652 

343 520 594 

309 168 535 

811 226 504 

457 801 242 

466 029 371 

432 712 049 

391 037 652 

309 168 535 

2 410 291 421 

2 169 262 279 

3 348 697 719 

2 169 262 279 

76 633 439 

68 970 095 

90 988 696 

Lithuania 

113 600 821 

102 240 739 

153 111 249 

Luxembourg  

72 191 526 

Malta 

9 299 769 

64 972 374 

8 369 792 

86 164 652 

23 861 158 

68 970 095 

102 240 739 

64 972 374 

8 369 792 

Netherlands 

924 777 902 

832 300 112 

1 496 455 075 

832 300 112 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 
United 
Kingdom 
Iceland 

1 583 938 824 

1 425 544 942 

3 042 300 527 

1 425 544 942 

429 581 969 

386 623 772 

656 059 490 

590 453 541 

202 268 939 

182 042 045 

99 425 782 

89 483 204 

516 180 208 

892 057 462 

325 260 814 

132 658 495 

386 623 772 

590 453 541 

182 042 045 

89 483 204 

1 766 877 232 

1 590 189 509 

2 631 410 204 

1 590 189 509 

315 554 578 

283 999 120 

435 061 898 

283 999 120 

2 744 937 332 

2 470 443 599 

4 217 627 183 

2 470 443 599 

15 327 217 

13 794 495 

36 774 779 

13 794 495 

Note: The most recently reviewed inventory will be the inventory for the year 2014 as part of the 2016 UNFCCC 
submission. 
For the calculation all figures were rounded to tons. The figure for the EU is the assigned amount of the EU as 
presented in Table 2-8. 

18 

 
 
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
2.6.  Difference  between  the  assigned  amount  for  the  second  commitment 
period  and  the  average  emissions  for  the  first  three  years  of  the 
preceding commitment period 

According  to  Article  3(7ter)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  any  positive  difference  between  the 
assigned amount of the second commitment period and the average annual emissions for the 
first three years of the preceding commitment period multiplied by eight shall be transferred to 
the cancellation account.  

In line with the terms of the joint fulfilment of the EU, its Member States and Iceland under 
Article 3 of the Kyoto Protocol, Article 3(7ter) is applied to the joint assigned amount of the 
second commitment period. 

Table 2-10 Joint Assigned amount for the EU, Member States and Iceland for the second 
commitment  period  and  average  emissions  for  the  first  three  years  of  the  preceding 
commitment period 

Joint  assigned  amount  for 
second commitment period 

the 

37 625 402 324 tonnes CO2eq. 

Average annual emissions for 2008 
to 2010 for the EU, Member States 
and Iceland multiplied by eight 

38 707 039 784 tonnes CO2eq. 

In  accordance  with  paragraph  2  of  Decision  2/CMP.11  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  Parties  shall 
clarify in their reports to facilitate the calculation of the assigned amount whether they have 
used  in  the  calculation  of  the  average  annual  emissions  for  the  first  three  years  of  the 
preceding commitment period: 

(a) The gases and sources listed in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol; or 

(b)  The same  greenhouse  gases,  sectors and  source  categories  as  those used  to  calculate  the 
assigned amount for the second commitment period. 

For  the  EU  the  provision  in  subitem  (b)  above  implies  that  emissions  from  deforestation 
would  be  added  for  the  respective  years  for  five  Member  States  (Denmark,  Ireland,  the 
Netherlands,  Portugal  and  the  UK)  in  line  with  the  assigned  amount  calculation.  For  1990 
these emissions are about 0.09% of the base year emission of the EU, its Member States and 
Iceland.  Therefore,  both  ways  of  calculating  the  average  annual  emissions  lead  to  a  very 
similar  result.  For  both  methods  (a)  and  (b),  the  joint  assigned  amount  for  the  second 
commitment  period  is  lower  than  the  average  annual  emissions  for  the  period  2008  –  2010 
multiplied  by  eight.  The  figure  presented in  Table  2-10  above  has  been  calculated  based  on 
option (a) - the gases and sources listed in Annex A to the Kyoto Protocol. This choice was 
made because the calculation is simple and more transparent. On the other hand option (b) is 
more  in  accordance  with  the  EU’s  interpretation  of  Article  3.7ter,  but  would  be  less 
transparent as it requires a more complex calculation of the emissions from deforestation for 5 
Member States for three years. 

The joint assigned amount for the second commitment period is lower than the average annual 
emissions for the period 2008 – 2010 multiplied by eight as indicated in Table 2-10. Thus, no 
positive difference occurs and no cancellation needs to be performed. 

19 

 
 
2.7.  Application of paragraphs 23 – 26 of decision 1/CMP.8 

According  to  Decision  1/CMP.8,  paragraph  23,  each  Party  included  in  Annex  I  with  a 
commitment inscribed in the third column of Annex B as contained in annex I to this decision 
shall establish a previous period surplus reserve (PPSR) account in its national registry. Based 
on  this  provision,  the  EU,  each  Member  State  and  Iceland  will  establish  previous  period 
surplus reserve accounts in their respective registries. 

According to Decision 1/CMP.8, paragraph 24, where the emissions of a Party referred to in 
paragraph 23 above in a commitment period are less than its assigned amount under Article 3, 
the difference shall,  on request of that Party, be carried over to  the subsequent  commitment 
period, as follows: 

(a) Any ERUs or CERs held in that Party’s national registry that have not been retired for that 
commitment period or cancelled may be carried over to the subsequent commitment  period, 
up to a maximum for each unit type of 2.5 per cent of the assigned amount calculated pursuant 
to Article 3(7) and (8); 

(b)  Any  AAUs  held  in  that  Party’s  national  registry  that  have  not  been  retired  for  that 
commitment period or cancelled shall be added to the assigned amount for that Party for the 
second commitment period. That part of a Party’s assigned amount consisting of AAUs held 
in  that  Party’s  national  registry  that  has  not  been  retired  for  that  commitment  period  or 
cancelled shall be transferred to its previous period surplus reserve account for the subsequent 
commitment period, to be established in its national registry. 

According to Decision 1/CMP.8, paragraph 23 the European Union, each Member State and 
Iceland establish previous period surplus reserve accounts in their respective registries. 

According to Decision 1/CMP.8, paragraph 24 (a) of decision 1/CMP.8, the EU, each Member 
State and Iceland may carry over any remaining ERUs and CERs that have not been retired of 
cancelled  for  the  first  commitment  period  in  their  respective  registries  to  the  second 
commitment period. The 2.5 per cent limit in paragraph 24 (a) of Decision 1/CMP.8 will be 
calculated  based  on  the  assigned  amounts  of  the  Member  States,  Iceland  and  the  EU 
calculated pursuant to Article 3(7) and (8) for the first commitment period.  

According  to  decision  1/CMP.8,  paragraph  24  (b)  the  EU,  each  Member  State  and  Iceland 
may  carry  over  any  remaining  AAUs  that  have  not  been  retired  of  cancelled  for  the  first 
commitment  period  in  their  respective  registries  to  their  respective  previous  period  surplus 
reserve accounts.  

According  to  Decision  1/CMP.8,  paragraph  25,  units  in  a  Party’s  previous  period  surplus 
reserve  account  may  be  used  for  retirement  during  the  additional  period  for  fulfilling 
commitments  of the second commitment period  up to  the extent  by which  emissions  during 
the  second  commitment  period  exceed  the  assigned  amount  for  that  commitment  period,  as 
defined  in  Article  3(7  bis),  (8)  and  (8  bis),  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol.  This  provision  will  be 
applied to the EU, its Member States and Iceland individually due to the fact that the previous 
period  surplus  reserve  accounts  will  be  established  in  the  Kyoto  registries  of  the  EU,  its 
Member  States  and  Iceland.  Units  in  a  member's  Previous  Period  Surplus  Reserve  account 
may  be  used  for  retirement  during  the  additional  period  for  fulfilling  commitments  of  the 
second  commitment  period,  up  to  the  extent  by  which  that  member's  emissions  during  the 
second commitment period exceed its respective assigned amount for that commitment period. 

20 

 
According to Decision 1/CMP.8, paragraph 26, units may be transferred and acquired between 
previous  period  surplus  reserve  accounts.  This  provision  will  be  applied  to  the  EU,  its 
Member  States  and  Iceland  individually  due  to  the  fact  that  the  previous  period  surplus 
reserve accounts will be established in the Kyoto registries of the EU, its Member States and 
Iceland. 

2.8.  Application  and  calculation  pursuant  to  paragraph  13  in  the  annex  of 

Decision 2/CMP.7 

According  to  paragraph  13  in  the  annex  of  Decision  2/CMP.7  for  the  second  commitment 
period, additions to the assigned amount of a Party resulting from forest management under 
Article 3(4), and from forest management project activities undertaken under Article 6, shall 
not exceed 3.5 per cent of the base year greenhouse gas emissions excluding land use, land-
use change and forestry pursuant to Article 3(7) and (8), or any amendments thereto, times the 
duration  of  the  commitment  period  in  years.  Similar  to  the  general  accounting  of  emissions 
and removals under Article 3(3) and (4), Member States and Iceland will apply this provision 
individually. The maximum accountable quantities resulting from forest management that can 
be added to the assigned amounts to Member States are presented in Table 2-11. 

Table  2-11  Maximum  accountable  quantities  resulting  from  forest  management  under 
Article 3, paragraph 4 in the second commitment period 

Member State 

Forest  management  cap  for 
the 2nd commitment period 

tonnes CO2 eq. 

Austria 

Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

22 079 438 

41 387 107 

32 083 064 

8 737 297 

1 581 117 

55 794 719 

19 872 505 

11 199 075 

19 978 041 

153 464 169 

349 964 204 

30 148 931 

30 680 949 

15 796 928 

146 137 768 

7 367 231 

13 220 336 

3 609 022 

560 070 

62 669 043 

162 405 603 

16 993 131 

85 302 297 

20 861 133 

21 

 
 
Member State 

Forest  management  cap  for 
the 2nd commitment period 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

5 691 724 

80 834 487 

20 175 995 

224 972 636 

Iceland 

1 017 396 
Note: For the calculation all figures were rounded to tons. 

2.9. 

Information related to LULUCF activities under Article 3(3) and (4) of 
the Kyoto Protocol 

As in the first commitment period, Member States and Iceland will continue to apply Article 
3(3)  and  (4)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  and  decisions  agreed  thereunder  individually.  Member 
States will account individually for emissions by sources and removals by sinks from Kyoto 
LULUCF activities and will individually decide on accounting modalities and elections where 
foreseen under the Kyoto Protocol. Any issuance of removal units (RMUs) or cancellation of 
units resulting from the accounting under Articles 3(3) and (4) should be made to the Member 
States’ and Iceland’s Kyoto registries.  

2.9.1.  Identification  of  the  selection  of  single  minimum  values  for  tree 
crown cover, land area and tree height for use in accounting under 
Article 3(3) and (4) 

Member  States  have  selected  threshold  values  for  the  forest  definition  for  reporting  on  the 
activities  afforestation,  reforestation  and  deforestation  under  Article  3(3)  and  forest 
management,  if  elected  under  Article  3(4)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  for  the  first  commitment 
period. As the EU aggregates Member States’ information, the same values are used as those 
elected by Member States for the required single minimum values for tree crown cover, land 
area  and  tree  height  in  accordance  with  the  forest  definition  used  for  reporting  to  the  FAO. 
Table 2-12 presents an overview on Member States’ and Iceland’s selections. The definitions 
for  the  second  commitment  period  shall  be  the  same  as  for  the  first  commitment  period. 
Cyprus  and  Malta  did  not  have  a  commitment  in  the  first  commitment  period  and  selected 
definitions for the second commitment period. 

Table  2-12  Member  States’  and  Iceland`s  selection  of  threshold  values  for  the  forest 
definition for reporting under Article 3(3) and (4) 

(1) 

Member State 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 

Minimum  value  for 
tree crown cover 
30 % 
20 % 
10 % 
10 % 
10 % 
30 % 
10 % 
30% 
10 % 
10 % 
10 % 
25 % 
30 % 
20 % 

Minimum tree height  Minimum  area  for 

2 m 
5 m 
5 m 
2 m 
5 m 
2 m 
5 m 
2 m 
5 m 
5 m 
5 m 
2 m 
5 m 
5 m 

22 

forest land area 
0.05 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.1 ha 
0.1 ha 
0.3 ha 
0.05 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.1 ha 
0.3 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.1 ha 

 
(1) 

Member State 

Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 

Minimum  value  for 
tree crown cover 
10 % 
20 % 
30 % 
10 % 
30 % 
20 % 
10 % 
10 % 
10 % 
20 % 
30 % 
20 % 
10 % 
20 % 
10 % 

Minimum tree height  Minimum  area  for 

5 m 
5 m 
5 m 
5 m 
5 m 
5 m 
2 m 
5 m 
5 m 
5 m 
2 m 
3 m 
5 m 
2 m 
2 m 

forest land area 
0.5 ha 
0.1 ha 
0.1 ha 
0.5 ha 
1 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.1 ha 
1 ha 
0.25 ha 
0.3 ha 
0.25 ha 
1 ha 
0.5 ha 
0.1 ha 
0.5 ha 

2.9.2.  Election  of  activities  under  Article  3(4),  for  inclusion  in  the 
accounting for the first commitment  period and second commitment 
period 

Article  3(4)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol  provides  the  option  to  include  the  activities  forest 
management,  cropland  management,  grazing  land  management  and  revegetation  in  the 
accounting  of  the  commitments  for  the  first  commitment  period.  In  the  second  commitment 
period  all  Parties  included  in  Annex  I  have  to  account  for  anthropogenic  greenhouse  gas 
emissions  by  sources  and  removals  by  sinks  resulting  from  any  activity  under  Article  3(4) 
already elected in the first commitment period, and for forest management (Decision 2/CMP 
7, Annex, Paragraph 7). In addition, they may also choose to elect further activities from the 
ones  above  for  inclusion  in  its  accounting  for  the  second  commitment  period  as  well  as 
wetland drainage and rewetting can be chosen as an additional activity. 

The EU will report in the joint inventory under the Kyoto Protocol the sum of the 28 Member 
States' and Iceland's greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks from land-
use, land-use change and forestry activities under Article 3(3), for forest management and the 
additional elected activities under Article 3(4) of the Kyoto Protocol, based on the election of 
activities  by  Member  States.  Table  2-13  presents  an  overview  of  the  Member  States’  and 
Iceland´s elections of activities under Article 3(4) as reported in their reports to facilitate the 
calculation of the assigned amount for the second commitment period.  

Table 2-13 Member States and Iceland`s elections of activities under Article 3(4) in the 
second commitment period 

(2) 

Member State  Cropland 

management 

Grazing 
management 

land 

Revegetation  Wetland 

Not elected 
Austria 
Not elected 
Belgium 
Not elected  
Bulgaria 
Not elected 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Not elected 
Czech Republic  Not elected 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 

Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 

Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected  
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 

23 

Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected  
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 

Drainage  and 
rewetting 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected  
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 

 
 
(2) 

Member State  Cropland 

management 

Grazing 
management 

land 

Revegetation  Wetland 

France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom  Elected 
Iceland 

Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 

Not elected 

Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 

Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 

Drainage  and 
rewetting 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Not elected 
Elected 
Not elected 

Information on how the national system under Article 5(1) of the Kyoto Protocol will identify 
land  areas  associated  with  activities  under  Article  3(4)  and  how  Member  States  ensure  that 
land that was accounted for in the first commitment period continues to be accounted for in 
the  second  commitment  period  is  provided  in  the  individual  initial  reports  of  the  Member 
States  and  Iceland  or  in  their  national  inventory  reports  –  as  appropriate  -  because  the 
development  of  the  methodological  approach  to  identify  land  areas  is  part  of  the  Member 
States’ responsibilities. 

2.9.3.  Identification  of  the  frequency  of  accounting  for  activities  under 

Article 3(3) and (4) 

Member States and Iceland identify the accounting frequency for the activities under Article 
3(3)  and  (4)  in  their  respective  reports  to  facilitate  the  calculation  of  the  assigned  amount. 
Member  States  and  Iceland  can  choose  to  account  at  the  end  of  the  commitment  period  or 
annually. Table 2-14 reflects the decisions of the Member States and Iceland. 

Table 2-14 EU-28 Member States’ and Iceland`s choice of accounting frequency 

Member State 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 

Annual accounting  Accounting  at  the  end  of 
the  second  commitment 
period 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

X 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

24 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
X 

Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 

X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 

Each Member State and Iceland will account for net emissions and removals for each activity 
under  Article  3(3)  and  (4),  if  elected,  by  issuing  RMUs  or  cancelling  Kyoto  Protocol  units 
based  on  the  corresponding  reported  emissions  and  removals  from  these  activities  and  the 
specific  accounting  rules.  The  EU  will  neither  issue,  nor  cancel  units  based  on  the  reported 
emissions and removals from activities under Article 3(3) and (4). 

2.9.4.  Forest Management Reference Levels as inscribed in the appendix to 

the annex to Secision 2/CMP.7 

For the second commitment period forest management is a mandatory activity under Article 
3(4)  of  the  Kyoto  Protocol,  which  will  be  accounted  against  a  forest  management  reference 
level, i.e. a country-specific level of business-as-usual emissions or removals. RMUs will be 
issued only if forest management removals are higher, or emissions are lower, than the agreed 
forest management reference level. Otherwise, Kyoto units will be cancelled.  Paragraph 1(i) 
of  Annex  I  to  Decision  2/CMP.8  requires  the  reporting  of  the  forest  management  level  and 
any technical corrections as contained in the inventory report. This information is reported in 
the reports to facilitate the calculation of the assigned amount of Member States and Iceland 
and their most recent greenhouse gas inventories in line with the explanations above that each 
Member  State  and  Iceland  will  account  for  net  emissions  and  removals  for  the  forest 
management activity under Article 3(4) of the Kyoto Protocol. 

The same applies to the requirement in paragraph 1(j) of Annex I to Decision 2/CMP.8 of the 
Kyoto  Protocol  to  report  Information  on  how  emissions  from  harvested  wood  products 
originating  from  forests  prior  to  the  start  of  the  second  commitment  period  have  been 
calculated in the reference level in accordance with Decision 2/CMP.7, annex, paragraph 16. 
This information is also provided in Member States’s reports to facilitate the calculation of the 
assigned amount or in Member States’ most recent inventory submissions. 

2.9.5.  Accounting for natural disturbances 

According  to  Paragraph  33  of  the  Annex  to  Decision  2/CMP.7  the  countries  shall  provide 
information on whether they intend to apply the provisions to exclude emissions from natural 
disturbances  for  the  accounting  for  afforestation  and  reforestation  under  Article  3(3),  of  the 
Kyoto Protocol and/or forest management under Article 3(4), of the Kyoto Protocol during the 
second  commitment  period.  Table  2-15  provides  an  overview  on  the  decisions  of  Member 

25 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
States  whether  they  intend  to  use  the  provisions  to  exclude  emissions  from  natural 
disturbances. 

Table  2-15  Information  on  the  use  of  the  provision  to  exclude  emissions  from  natural 
disturbances 

Countries 

Afforestation/Reforestation 

Forest Management 

Austria 
Belgium 
Bulgaria 
Croatia 
Cyprus 
Czech Republic 
Denmark 
Estonia 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hungary 
Ireland 
Italy 
Latvia 
Lithuania 
Luxembourg 
Malta 
Netherlands 
Poland 
Portugal 
Romania 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Spain 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Iceland 

No 
No 
Yes  
Yes 
No 
No 
No 
No 
No 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
No 
No 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 
Yes 

Member  States  that  intend  to  exclude  emissions  from  natural  disturbances  are  required  to 
report  country-specific  information  on  the  background  level  of  emissions  associated  with 
annual natural disturbances that have been included in its forest management reference level 
and  related  explanations.  This  information  is  provided  in  Member  States’  and  Iceland’s 
reports to facilitate the calculation of their assigned amounts or their most recent greenhouse 
gas inventory submissions, as appropriate.  

2.10.  Description of the national system 

A description of the national system is required pursuant to the Annex to Decision 2/CMP.8 if 
the  Party  did  not  have  a  quantified  emission  limitation  and  reduction  target  in  the  first 
commitment period. The EU already had a quantified emission limitation and reduction target 
in  the  first  commitment  period  and  provided  this  description  in  the  report  to  calculate  the 
assigned  amount  of  the  first  commitment  period.  Subsequently  any  changes  that  occurred 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
were reported as part of the annual supplementary information under Article 7 of the Kyoto 
Protocol and included in the national inventory report.  

Changes  compared  to  the  previous  inventory  submissions  related  to  the  national  system  are 
the following: 

A key change to  previous inventory submissions  is that the Kyoto greenhouse  inventory  for 
the second commitment period has a different coverage of countries due to the scope of the 
terms of the joint fulfilment agreement for the second commitment period which includes 28 
Member States and Iceland. 

As part of the agreement between the EU, its Member States and Iceland (Council Decision 
(EU)  2015/1340),  Regulation  (EU)  No  525/2013  on  a  mechanism  for  monitoring  and 
reporting  GHG  emissions  and  for  reporting  other  information  at  national  and  Union  level 
relevant to climate change (Monitoring Mechanism Regulation) as well as current and future 
delegated and implementing acts based on this regulation are binding upon Iceland. 

In  accordance  with  the  Monitoring  Mechanism  Regulation  Article  6(1),  a  Union  Inventory 
system  is  established  to  ensure  the  timeliness,  transparency,  accuracy,  consistency, 
comparability and completeness of national inventories with regard the Union greenhouse gas 
inventory. The Commission’s Staff Working Document (SWD (2013) 308 final) outlines the 
main elements of the Union inventory system. An overview is presented in Figure 2.2.  

The  Directorate-General  for  Climate  Action  of  the  European  Commission  has  overall 
responsibility  for  the  inventory  of  the  EU  while  each  Member  State  is  responsible  for  the 
preparation  of  its  own  inventory  which  is  the  basic  input  for  the  inventory  of  the  EU.  DG 
Climate  Action  is  supported  in  the  establishment  of  the  inventory  by  the  following  main 
institutions: the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its European Topic Centre on Air 
Pollution  and  Climate  Change  Mitigation  (ETC/ACM)  as  well  as  the  following  other 
Directorates  General  of  the  European  Commission:  Eurostat,  and  the  Joint  Research  Centre 
(JRC) . 

27 

 
Figure 

2.2 

Inventory 

system 

of 

the 

European 

Union

Table  2-16  shows  the  main  institutions  and  persons  involved  in  the  compilation  and 
submission of the EU inventory. 

Table  2-16  List  of  institutions  and  experts  responsible  for  the  compilation  of  Member 
States’ inventories and for the preparation of the EU inventory 

Member 
institution 

Austria 

Belgium 

State/EU 

Contact address 

Elisabeth Rigler 
Umweltbundesamt 
Spittelauer Laende 5, 
A-1090 Vienna 
Peter Wittoeck 
Federal Department of the Environment 
Place Victor Horta 40, B-1060 Brussels 

28 

 
 
Bulgaria 

Croatia 

Cyprus 

Czech Republic 

Denmark 

Estonia 

Finland 

France 

Germany 

Greece 

Hungary 

Ireland 

Italy 

Latvia 

Detelina Petrova 
Executive Environment Agency  
136, Tzar Boris III Blvd. 
1618 Sofia 
Ms Iva Švedek 
Ekonerg - Energy and Environmental Protection Institute 
Koranska 5, 10000 Zagreb  
Ms Vlatka Palčić 
Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection 
Radnička cesta 80 , 10000 Zagreb 
Theodoulos Mesimeris 
Head of Climate Action Unit 
Department of Environment 
Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment 
1498, Nicosia, Cyprus 
Ing. Eva Krtkova  
Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI) 
Na Sabatce 17, CZ 14306 Prague 4 
Ole-Kenneth Nielsen 
Aarhus University 
Frederiksborgvej 399, PO Box 358, DK-4000 Roskilde 
Katre Kets 
Adviser, Climate and Radiation Department    
and 
Cris-Tiina Türkson  
Senior officer, Climate and Radiation Department  
Ministry of the Environment 
Narva mnt 7a, 15172 Tallinn, Estonia 
Riitta Pipatti 
Statistics Finland 
PB 6 A, FIN-00022 Statistics Finland 
Pascale Vizy 
Direction Générale de l'Energie et du Climat (DGEC) 
Ministère de l’Environnement, de l'Energie et de la Mer (MEEM) 
Tour Sequoia, 92055 La Défense CEDEX 
and 
Centre Interprofessionel Technique d’Etudes de la Pollution 
Atmosphérique (CITEPA) 
42 rue de Paradis, F-75010 Paris 
Jean-Pierre Chang 
Michael Strogies 
Federal Environmental Agency 
Wörlitzer Platz 1, D-06844 Dessau-Roßlau 
Mr. Kyriakos Psychas  
Ministry of Environment and Energy, Climate Change Department,  
147 Patission st, 11251 Athens, Greece 
Mr. Gábor KIS-KOVÁCS 
Hungarian Meteorological Service,  
Kitaibel Pál u. 1, 1024, Budapest, HUNGARY 
Paul Duffy 
Environmental Protection Agency 
 PO Box 3000, Johnstown Castle, Co. Wexford, Ireland 
M. Contaldi, R. de Lauretis, D. Romano 
National Environment Protection Agency (ANPA) 
Via Vitaliano Brancati 48, I-00144 Rome 
Agita Gancone 
Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development 
Peldu street 25, LV-1494 

29 

 
Lithuania 

Luxembourg 

Malta 

Netherlands 

Poland 

Portugal 

Romania 

Slovakia 

Slovenia 

Spain 

Sweden 

United Kingdom 

Ms. Jolanta Merkeliene,  
Chief Desk Officer,  
Climate Change Policy Division of the Ministry of Environment 
Lithuanian Ministry of Environment 
A. Jaksto 4/9, LT 01105 Vilnius 
Eric De Brabanter 
Département de l'Environnement 
Ministère du Développement durable et des Infrastructures 
L-2918 Luxembourg 
Dr Marc Schuman 
Administration de l'Environnement 
16 rue Eugène Ruppert 
L-2453 Luxembourg 
Krista Rizzo 
Malta Resources Authority – Climate Change Unit 
Millennia, 2nd Floor, Aldo Moro Road, Marsa MRS 9065, Malta. 
Wim van der Maas  
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment  
P.O. Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands 
Anna Olecka 
National Centre for Emissions Management 
Institute of Environmental Protection - National Research Institute 
Chmielna 132/134, 00-805 Warszawa, PL 
Eduardo Santos 
Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, Departamento de Alterações 
Climáticas (DCLIMA) 
Rua da Murgueira, 9/9A, 2610-124 Amadora, Portugal 
Sorin Deaconu 
National Environmental Protection Agency 
Splaiul Independentei 294, Sector 6, Cod Postal 060841, Bucharest, 
Romania 
Milos Grajcar 
Ministry of the Environment of the Slovak Republic 
Climate Change Department (National Focal Point) 
Namestie L. Stura 1, 812 35 Bratislava 1, Slovak Republic 
Janka Szemesova 
Department of Emissions, Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute 
Jeseniova 17, 833 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic 
Tajda Mekinda Majaron 
Environmental Agency of the Republic of Slovenia 
Vojkova 1/b, SI-1000 Ljubljana 
Maj Britt Larka Abellán 
Dirección General de Calidad y Evaluación Ambiental y Medio Natural 
Ministerio de Agricultura, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente 
Plaza de San Juan de la Cruz s/n, E-28071 Madrid 
Johan Kristensson  
The Ministry of the Environment and Energy,  
Street address: Rosenbad 4 
Postal address: SE 103 33 Stockholm 
and  
Frida Löfström 
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 
Postal Address: Naturvårdsverket , SE-106 48  Stockholm ,Sweden 
Julia Sussams 
UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory 
GHG Statistics & Inventory Team 
Department of Energy & Climate Change  

European Commission 

Ana Maria Danila  
European Commission, DG Climate Action 
Beaulieu, BU-24 4/32, Brussels, Belgium 

30 

 
European 
Agency (EEA) 

Environment 

European  Topic  Centre  on 
Air  Pollution  and  Climate 
Change 
Mitigation 
(ETC/ACM) 

Eurostat 

Joint Research Centre (JRC) 

Ricardo Fernandez, Spyridoula Ntemiri 
European Environment Agency 
Kongens Nytorv 6, DK-1050 Copenhagen, Denmark 
Nicole Mandl, Michael Gager, Elisabeth Rigler 
European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation 
Umweltbundesamt 
Spittelauer Laende 5, A-1090 Vienna, Austria 
Michael Goll 
Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat), 
Jean Monnet Building, L-2920 Luxembourg, Luxembourg 
Giacomo Grassi, Adrian Leip 
Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, 
Climate Change Unit 
Via Enrico Fermi, I-21020 Ispra (VA), Italy 

The Member States 

All  EU  Member  States  are  Annex  I  Parties  to  the  UNFCCC.  Therefore,  all  Member  States 
have  committed  themselves  to  prepare  individual  national  greenhouse  gas  inventories  in 
accordance  with  UNFCCC  reporting  guidelines  and  to  submit  those  inventories  to  the 
UNFCCC Secretariat by 15 April.  

In this context, all Member States are required to establish, operate and seek to continuously 
improve national inventory systems in accordance to Article 5 of the Monitoring Mechanism 
Regulation.  Detailed  information  on  institutional  arrangements/national  systems  of  each 
Member State is included in the respective national inventory reports. 

The EU's inventory is based on the inventories supplied by Member States. The total estimate 
of  the  EU  greenhouse  gas  emissions  should  accurately  reflect  the  sum  of  Member  States’ 
national greenhouse gas inventories. Member States are responsible for choosing activity data, 
emission factors and other parameters used for their national inventories as well as the correct 
application of methodologies provided in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines. Member States are also 
responsible for establishing quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) programmes for their 
inventories.  The  QA/QC  activities  of  each  Member  State  are  described  in  the  respective 
national inventory reports. 

For the EU to be able to provide the greenhouse gas inventory to the UNFCCC on time, all 
Member  States  are  required  to  report  individual  greenhouse  gas  inventories  prepared  in 
accordance  with  UNFCCC  reporting  guidelines  to  the  European  Commission  and  to  the 
European  Environment  Agency  (EEA)  by  15  January  every  year.  After  the  submission  of 
national  GHG  inventories  and  inventory  reports,  QA/QC  checks  are  performed  by  the  EU 
team. The outcome of these ‘initial checks’, together with the draft EU inventory report is sent 
to  Member  States  for  checking,  reviewing  and  providing  of  comments.  The  Member  States 
take part in the review and comment phase of the draft EU inventory report. The purpose of 
circulating the draft EU inventory report is to improve the quality of the EU inventory. The 
Member  States  check  their  national  data  and  information  used  in  the  EU  inventory  report, 
answer  to  the  initial  checks  findings  and  send  updates,  as  relevant  by  the  15th  March.  In 
addition,  they  can  comment  on  the  general  aspects  of  the  EU  inventory  report  by  the  same 
deadline. 

During  the  UNFCCC  review  of  the  Union  inventory,  Member  States  are  also  required  to 
provide  answers  related  to  the  issues  under  their  responsibility  as  soon  as  possible. In  these 
cases, the issues are forwarded directly as requested by the EU team. 

31 

 
 
The European Commission, Directorate-General for Climate Action  

The  European  Commission’s  Directorate-General  for  Climate  Action  (DG  CLIMA)  in 
consultation  with  the  Member  States  has  the  overall  responsibility  for  the  EU  inventory. 
Member  States  are  required  to  submit  their  national  inventories  and inventory  reports  under 
the  Monitoring  Mechanism  Regulation  to  the  European  Commission,  DG  CLIMA;  DG 
CLIMA  itself  submits  the  inventory  and  inventory  report  of  the  EU  to  the  UNFCCC 
Secretariat, on behalf of the EU. In the actual compilation of the EU inventory and inventory 
report, the European Commission, DG CLIMA, is assisted by the EEA including the EEA’s 
ETC/ACM and by Eurostat and the JRC. 

The consultation between the DG CLIMA and the Member States takes place in the Climate 
Change  Committee  established  under  Article  26  of  the  Monitoring  Mechanism  Regulation. 
The Committee is composed of the representatives of the  Member States and chaired by the 
representative  of  the  DG  CLIMA.  Procedures  within  the  Committee  for  decision-making, 
adoption of measures and voting are outlined in the rules of procedure, adopted in November 
2003.  In  order  to  facilitate  decision-making  in  the  Committee,  working  groups  have  been 
established,  one  of  which  is  Working  Group  1  on  ‘Annual  inventories’.  The  objectives  and 
tasks of Working Group 1 under the Climate Change Committee include: 

 

 

 

 

the  promotion  of  the  timely  delivery  of  national  annual  GHG  inventories  as 
required under the monitoring mechanism; 

the  improvement  of  the  quality  of  GHG  inventories  on  all  relevant  aspects 
(transparency,  consistency,  comparability,  completeness,  accuracy  and  use  of 
good practices); 

the  exchange  of  practical  experience  on  inventory  preparation,  on  all  quality 
aspects and on the use of national methodologies for GHG estimation; 

the evaluation of the current organisational aspects of the preparation process of 
the  EU  inventory  and  the  preparation  of  proposals  for  improvements  where 
needed. 

The European Environment Agency 

Under  Article  24  of  the  Monitoring  Mechanism  regulation,  the  role  of  the  European 
Environment Agency (EEA) is defined as providing assistance to the Commission in its work. 
In relation to the inventories, this assistance includes the following: 

Compilation of the Union greenhouse gas inventory and preparation of the Union 

(a) 
greenhouse gas inventory report; 

Performance  of  the  quality  assurance  and  quality  control  procedures  for  the 

(b) 
preparation of the Union greenhouse gas inventory; 

Preparation  of  estimates  for  data  not  reported  in  the  national  greenhouse  gas 

(c) 
inventories; 

32 

 
 
 
(d) 

Conduction of the reviews of Member States’ inventories. 

The  tasks  of  the  EEA  are  facilitated  by  the  European  environmental  information  and 
observation  network  (Eionet),  which  consists  of  the  EEA  as  central  node  (supported  by 
European  topic  centres)  and  national  institutions  in  the  EEA  member  countries  (see 
http://eionet.eea.europa.eu). Member States report the information reported pursuant to Article 
7 of the Monitoring Mechanism Regulation to the Commission with a copy to the European 
Environment  Agency,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  making  use  of  the  EEA’s  ReportNet’s 
Central Data Repository under the Eionet (‘CDR’, see http://cdr.eionet.europa.eu/). 

Apart from the data capturing processes, and as part of its responsibility to compile the GHG 
inventory  and prepare the Union GHG inventory report, the EEA is  also responsible for the 
implementation  of  the  QA/QC  Programme  of  the  EU,  by  performing  inter  alia  a  number  of 
QA/QC  checks  focused  on  ensuring  the  completeness  and  consistency  of  the  Union  and 
Member States inventories.  

Finally, in the end of the process the EEA is publishing the GHG inventory dataset and the EU 
National Inventory Report on its website. To facilitate the access of the GHG information to 
the general public, the EEA data viewer is also provided. 

The  EEA  is  further  assisted  by  its  European  Topic  Centre  on  Air  Pollution  and  Climate 
Change Mitigation (ETC/ACM), which is an international consortium working with the EEA 
under a framework partnership agreement. The activities of the EEA’s ETC/ACM are further 
deployed in the next paragraph.   

The European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate Change Mitigation 

The EEA’s European Topic Centre on Air and Climate Change Mitigation (ETC/ACM) was 
established  by  a  contract  between  the  lead  organisation  Institute  for  Public  Health  and  the 
Environment  (RIVM)  in  the  Netherlands  and  EEA  for  the  years  2014-2018.  The  EEA’s 
ETC/ACM  involves  14  organisations  and  institutions  in  eight  European  countries.  The 
technical annex for the 2014 work plan for the EEA’s ETC/ACM and an implementation plan 
specify  the  specific  tasks  of  the  EEA’s  ETC/ACM  partner  organisations  with  regard  to  the 
preparation  of  the  EU  inventory.  Umweltbundesamt  Austria  is  the  task  leader  for  the 
compilation  of  the  EU  annual  inventory  in  the  EEA’s  ETC/ACM.  The  specific  tasks 
undertaken by EEA’s ETC/ACM include: 

 

Initial  QA/QC  checks  of  Member  States’  submissions  in  cooperation  with 
Eurostat, and the JRC, up to 28 February documented in the EEA review tool and 
compilation of results from initial checks (status and consistency reports); 

  consultation  with  Member  States  in  order  to  clarify  data  and  other  information 

provided; 

  preparation of the draft EU inventory and inventory report by 28 February based 

on Member States’ submissions; 

  preparation  of  the  final  EU  inventory  and  inventory  report  by  15  April  (to  be 

submitted by the Commission to the UNFCCC Secretariat); 

The EEA’s ETC/ACM provides the CRF Aggregator developed to ensure the EU submission 
is fully consistent with Member States’ submissions. From the CRF aggregator the aggregated 

33 

 
EU inventory is transferred into the CRF reporter software for preparing the official EU GHG 
inventory submission.  

Eurostat 

Eurostat collects national energy statistics reported under the EU Energy Statistics Regulation 
on an annual basis. These data are used for the estimation of the IPCC Reference Approach 
and  the  Sectoral  Approach.  The  EEA  compares  the  results  of  the  two  approaches  with 
Member States’ CRF submissions. These comparisons are sent to Member States’ during the 
consultation on the Draft EU GHG inventory by 28 February each year.  The Energy Statistics 
Regulation  (Regulation  EC/1099/2008)  as  amended  by  Commission  Regulation  (EU)  No 
147/2013  of  13  February  2013  is  the  basis  for  Member  States  reporting  of  energy  data  to 
Eurostat. Article 6(2) of the Energy Statistics Regulation stipulates: 'Every reasonable effort 
shall be undertaken to ensure coherence between energy data declared in the energy statistics 
regulation,  and  data  declared  in  accordance  with  Commission  Decision  No  280/2004/EC  of 
the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  concerning  a  mechanism  for  monitoring 
Community  greenhouse  gas  emissions  and  for  implementing  the  Kyoto  Protocol'.  The 
consistency  of  energy  balances  and  CRF  activity  data  is  essential  for  good  quality  GHG 
estimates  in  the  energy sector,  and therefore  it is  at  the  core  of  the  QA/QC  activities  at  EU 
level. 

Joint Research Centre 

The  Joint  Research  Centre  (JRC)  performs  the  QA/QC  of  the  LULUCF  and  Agriculture 
sectors and is responsible of the writing of the respective chapters. The QA/QC main activity 
is  the  annual  checking  of  early  versions  of  the  each  national  GHG  inventory.  Focus  is  on 
errors  and  inconsistencies,  with  numerous  interactions  with  national  representatives  for 
clarifications  and  improvements.  Specific  completeness  and  consistency  checks  are  also 
carried  out.  For  LULUCF,  additional  efforts  to  help  member  states  in  improving  their 
reporting 
workshops 
(http://forest.jrc.ec.europa.eu/activities/lulucf/workshops/),  dedicated  EU-funded  projects,  the 
AFOLU database, and a forest growth model whose results which may be used by countries to 
compare  with  their  estimates.  More  information  is  provided  in  the  QA/QC  sections  of  the 
LULUCF and Agriculture chapters in the EU NIR. 

technical 

include 

annual 

2.11.  Description of the national registry  

For the purpose of meeting their obligations as Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and under Article 
10  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  525/2013  ("Monitoring  Mechanism  Regulation")8,  each  Member 
State  and  the  EU  operate  a  Kyoto  Protocol  national  registry.  In  accordance  with  Decision 
13/CMP.l  and  Decision  24/CP.8  the  Member  States  and  the  Union  operate  their  national 
registries in a consolidated manner. 

A description of the national registry is required pursuant to the Annex to Decision 2/CMP.8 
if  the  Party  did  not  have  a  quantified  emission  limitation  and  reduction  target  in  the  first 
commitment period. The EU already had a quantified emission limitation and reduction target 
in the first commitment period and provided a description of the national registry in the report 
to  calculate  the  assigned  amount  of  the  first  commitment  period.  Subsequently  changes  that 
occurred  related  to  the  national  registry  were  reported  as  part  of  the  annual  supplementary 
information under Article 7 of the Kyoto Protocol included in the national inventory report.  

8 OJ L 165, 18.6.2013, p. 13 

34 

 
                                                 
Changes compared to the previous inventory submissions related to the Kyoto registry of the 
EU are the following: 

Reporting Item 

Description 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(a) 
Change  of  name  or 
contact 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(b) 
Change 
cooperation 
arrangement 

regarding 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(c) 
to  database 
Change 
structure 
the 
capacity  of  national 
registry 

or 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(d) 
Change 
conformance 
technical standards 

regarding 
to 

 None 

No  change  of  cooperation  arrangement  occurred 
during the reported period. 

There was no change to the database structure as 
it  pertains  to  Kyoto  Protocol  functionality  in 
2015. 
Versions of the CSEUR released after 6.3.3.2 (the 
production version at the time of the last Chapter 
14  submission)  introduced  minor  changes  in  the 
structure of the database. 
These changes were limited and only affected EU 
ETS functionality. No change was required to the 
database  and  application  backup  plan  or  to  the 
disaster  recovery  plan.  The  database  model  is 
provided in Annex A. 
No change to the capacity of the national registry 
occurred during the reported period. 

testing  and 

tests  related 

Changes  introduced  since  version  6.3.3.2  of  the 
national registry are listed in Annex B.  
Each  release  of  the  registry  is  subject  to  both 
regression 
to  new 
functionality.  These  tests  also  include  thorough 
testing  against  the  DES  and  were  successfully 
carried  out  prior  to  the  relevant  major  release  of 
the  version  to  Production  (see  Annex  B).  Annex 
H  testing  was  carried  out  in  February  2016  and 
the test report is attached. 
No  other  change  in  the  registry's  conformance  to 
the  technical  standards  occurred  for  the  reported 
period. 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(e) 
Change 
discrepancies 
procedures 

to 

No  change  of  discrepancies  procedures  occurred 
during the reported period. 

35 

 
 
Reporting Item 

Description 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(f) 
Change 
security 

regarding 

No  change  of  security  measures  occurred  during 
the reporting period.  

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(g) 
Change 
publicly 
information  

list  of 
available 

to 

No  change  to  the  list  of  publicly  available 
information occurred during the reporting period. 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(h) 
Change 
address 

Internet 

of 

No  change  of 
occurred during the reporting period. 

the  registry 

internet  address 

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(i) 
Change  regarding  data 
integrity measures  

15/CMP.1  annex  II.E 
paragraph 32.(j) 
Change  regarding  test 
results  

No  change  of  data  integrity  measures  occurred 
during the reporting period. 

tests  on 

testing  and 

Changes  introduced  since  version  6.3.3.2  of  the 
national  registry  are  listed  in  Annex  B.  Both 
regression 
the  new 
functionality were successfully carried out prior to 
release  of  the  version  to  Production.  The  site 
test  was  carried  out  by  quality 
acceptance 
assurance consultants on behalf of and assisted by 
the  European  Commission;  the  report  is  attached 
as Annex B.   
Annex  H  testing  was  carried  out  in  February 
2016. 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
3.  UNITS AND ABBREVIATIONS 

t 
Gg 

AAU 
CER 
CH4 
CO2 
CMP 

COP 
CRF 
DG 
EEA 
ERU 
ESD 
ETC/ACM 

ETS 
EU 
GHG 
GWP 
HFCs 
HWP 
IPCC 
JRC 
KP 
LULUCF 
N2O 
NIR 
PFCs 
PPSR 
QA/QC  
RMU 
RIVM   
QELRCs  
SBSTA  
SF6 
SWD 
UNFCCC 
WG 

1 tonne (metric) = 1 megagram (Mg) = 106 g 
1 gigagram = 109 g = 1 kilotonne (kt) 

Assigned Amount Unit 
Certified Emission Reduction 
methane 
carbon dioxide 
Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the 
Kyoto Protocol 
Conference of the Parties 
common reporting format 
Directorate General 
European Environment Agency 
Emission Reduction Unit 
Effort Sharing Decision 
European Topic Centre on Air Pollution and Climate  
Change Mitigation 
Emission Trading System 
European Union 
greenhouse gas 
global warming potential 
hydrofluorocarbons 
harvested wood products 
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
Joint Research Centre 
Kyoto Protocol 
land use, land-use change and forestry 
nitrous oxide 
national inventory report 
perfluorocarbons 
previous period surplus reserve 
quality assurance/ quality control 
Removal Unit 
Institute for Public Health and the Environment  
quantified emission limitation commitments 
Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice 
sulphur hexafluoride 
Staff Working Document 
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 
Working Group 

37