L 130/136
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
16.5.2023
(10)
The EU ETS should incentivise production from installations that partly reduce or fully eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
Therefore, the description of some categories of activities in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC should be amended to ensure that installations performing an activity listed in that Annex and meeting the capacity threshold related to the same activity, but not emitting any greenhouse gases, are included within the scope of the EU ETS, and thereby ensure there is equal treatment of installations in the sectors concerned.
In addition, free allocation for the production of a product should take into account, as guiding principles, the circular use-potential of materials and the fact that the benchmark should be independent of the feedstock or the type of production process, where the production processes have the same purpose.
It is therefore necessary to modify the definition of the products and of the processes and emissions covered for some benchmarks, to ensure a level playing field for installations using new technologies that partly reduce or fully eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, and installations using existing technologies.
Notwithstanding those guiding principles, the revised benchmarks for 2026 to 2030 should continue to distinguish between primary and secondary production of steel and aluminium.
It is also necessary to decouple the update of the benchmark values for refineries and for hydrogen to reflect the increasing importance of production of hydrogen, including green hydrogen, outside the refineries sector.
(11)
Following the modification of the definitions of the products and of the processes and emissions covered for some benchmarks, it is necessary to ensure that producers do not receive double compensation for the same emissions with both free allocation and indirect costs compensation, and thus to adjust accordingly the financial measures to compensate indirect costs passed on in electricity prices.
(12)
Council Directive 96/61/EC (8) was repealed by Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).
The references to Directive 96/61/EC in Article 2 of Directive 2003/87/EC and in its Annex IV should be updated accordingly.
Given the need for urgent economy-wide emission reductions, Member States should be able to act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are within the scope of the EU ETS also through policies other than emission limits adopted pursuant to Directive 2010/75/EU.
(13)
In its communication of 12 May 2021 entitled ‘Pathway to a Healthy Planet for All - EU Action Plan: Towards Zero Pollution for Air, Water and Soil’, the Commission calls for the steering of the Union towards zero pollution by 2050, by reducing air, freshwater, sea and soil pollution to levels which are no longer expected to be harmful for health and natural ecosystems.
Measures under Directive 2010/75/EU, as the main instrument regulating air, water and soil pollutant emissions, will often also enable greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced.
In line with Article 8 of Directive 2003/87/EC, Member States should ensure coordination between the permit requirements of Directive 2003/87/EC and those of Directive 2010/75/EU.
(14)
Recognising that new innovative technologies will often allow emissions of both greenhouse gases and pollutants to be reduced, it is important to ensure synergies between measures delivering reductions of emissions of both greenhouse gases and pollutants, in particular Directive 2010/75/EU, and review their effectiveness in this regard.
(15)
The definition of electricity generators was used to determine the maximum amount of free allocation to industry in the period from 2013 to 2020, but led to different treatment of cogeneration power plants compared to industrial installations.
In order to incentivise the use of high efficiency cogeneration and to level the playing field for all installations receiving free allocation for heat production and district heating, all references to electricity generators in Directive 2003/87/EC should be deleted.
In addition, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 (10) specifies the details relating to the eligibility of all industrial processes for free allocation.
Therefore, the provisions on carbon capture and storage in Article 10a(3) of Directive 2003/87/EC have become obsolete and should be deleted.
(8) Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control (OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26).
(9) Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control) (OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, p. 17).
(10) Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 of 19 December 2018 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 59, 27.2.2019, p. 8).