Article 1 Market stability reserve
1. A market stability reserve shall be established in 2018 and the placing of allowances in the reserve shall operate from 1 January 2019. 2. The quantity of 900 million allowances deducted from auctioning volumes during the period 2014-2016, as determined in Regulation (EU) No 176/2014 pursuant to Article 10(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC, shall not be added to the volumes to be auctioned in 2019 and 2020 but shall instead be placed in the reserve. 3. Allowances not allocated to installations pursuant to Article 10a(7) of Directive 2003/87/EC and allowances not allocated to installations because of the application of Article 10a(19) and (20) of that Directive shall be placed in the reserve in 2020. The Commission shall review Directive 2003/87/EC in relation to those unallocated allowances and, if appropriate, submit a proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council. 4. The Commission shall publish the total number of allowances in circulation each year, by 15 May of the subsequent year. The total number of allowances in circulation in a given year shall be the cumulative number of allowances issued in the period since 1 January 2008, including the number issued pursuant to Article 13(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC in that period and entitlements to use international credits exercised by installations under the EU ETS in respect of emissions up to 31 December of that given year, minus the cumulative tonnes of verified emissions from installations under the EU ETS between 1 January 2008 and 31 December of that same given year, any allowances cancelled in accordance with Article 12(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC and the number of allowances in the reserve. No account shall be taken of emissions during the three-year period starting in 2005 and ending in 2007 and allowances issued in respect of those emissions. The first publication shall take place by 15 May 2017. 5. Each year, a number of allowances equal to 12 % of the total number of allowances in circulation, as set out in the most recent publication as referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, shall be deducted from the volume of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC and shall be placed in the reserve over a period of 12 months beginning on 1 September of that year, unless the number of allowances to be placed in the reserve would be less than 100 million. In the first year of the reserve's operation, placements shall also take place between 1 January and 1 September of that year of 8 % (representing 1 % for each calendar month) of the total number of allowances in circulation as set out in the most recent publication. By way of derogation from the first and second sentences of this subparagraph, until 31 December 2030, the percentages and the 100 million allowances referred to in those sentences shall be doubled. Without prejudice to the total amount of allowances to be deducted pursuant to this paragraph, until 31 December 2025, allowances referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC shall not be taken into account when determining Member States' shares contributing to that total amount. 5a. Unless otherwise decided in the first review carried out in accordance with Article 3, from 2023 allowances held in the reserve above the total number of allowances auctioned during the previous year shall no longer be valid. 6. In any year, if the total number of allowances in circulation is less than 400 million, 100 million allowances shall be released from the reserve and added to the volume of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC. Where fewer than 100 million allowances are in the reserve, all allowances in the reserve shall be released under this paragraph. 7. In any year, if paragraph 6 of this Article is not applicable and measures are adopted under Article 29a of Directive 2003/87/EC, 100 million allowances shall be released from the reserve and added to the volume of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC. Where fewer than 100 million allowances are in the reserve, all allowances in the reserve shall be released under this paragraph. 8. Where, following the publication of the total number of allowances in circulation, action is taken pursuant to paragraph 5, 6 or 7, the auction calendars shall take account of the allowances placed in the reserve or to be released from the reserve. The allowances shall be placed in the reserve or released from it over a period of 12 months. Where there is a release of allowances pursuant to paragraph 6 or 7, irrespective of the period during which the release takes place, it shall follow the Member States' shares applicable at the time the allowances were placed in the reserve and it shall also follow the order in which the allowances were placed in the reserve.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The European Green Deal Communication 1 launched a new growth strategy for the EU that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. It reaffirms the Commission’s ambition to increase its climate targets and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Furthermore, it aims to protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. The necessity and value of the European Green Deal have only grown in light of the very severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, living and working conditions and well-being of the Union’s citizens. Tackling climate change is an urgent challenge. In line with the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, global net-zero CO 2 emissions need to be achieved around 2050, and neutrality for all other greenhouse gases as soon as possible later in the century. This urgent challenge requires the EU to step up its action and demonstrate global leadership by becoming climate neutral by 2050. This objective is set out in the Communication ‘ A Clean Planet for all ’ - A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy’ 2 . Based on the European Green Deal strategy and a comprehensive impact assessment, the Commission’s Communication of September 2020 on Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition 3 (‘2030 Climate Target Plan’) proposed to raise the EU's ambition and put forward a comprehensive plan to increase the European Union’s binding target for 2030 towards at least 55 % net emission reduction, in a responsible way. Raising the 2030 ambition now helps give certainty to policymakers and investors, so that decisions made in the coming years do not lock in emission levels inconsistent with the EU’s objective to be climate neutral by 2050. The 2030 target is in line with the Paris Agreement objective to keep the global temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5°C. The European Council endorsed the new EU binding target for 2030 at its meeting of December 2020 4 . It also called on the Commission “ to assess how all economic sectors can best contribute to the 2030 target and to make the necessary proposals, accompanied by an in-depth examination of the environmental, economic and social impact at Member State level, taking into account national energy and climate plans and reviewing existing flexibilities ”. To this end, the European Climate Law 5 , as agreed with the co-legislators, makes the EU’s climate neutrality target legally binding, and raises the 2030 ambition by setting a target of at least 55 % net emission reductions by 2030 compared to 1990. In order to follow the pathway proposed in the European Climate Law, and deliver this increased level of ambition for 2030, the Commission has reviewed the climate and energy legislation currently in place that are expected to only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 % by 2030 and by 60 % by 2050. This ‘ Fit for 55 ’ legislative package, as announced in the 2030 Climate Target Plan, is the most comprehensive building block in the efforts to implement the ambitious new 2030 climate target, and all economic sectors and policies will need to make their contribution. The European Council also invited the Commission in December 2020 to consider exploring ways to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), while preserving its integrity and taking into account the need to address distributional concerns and energy poverty. The European Council also invited the Commission to consider proposing measures that enable energy-intensive industries to develop and deploy innovative climate-neutral technologies while maintaining their industrial competitiveness. The current ETS legislation was revised in 2018 to deliver a 43 % reduction in EU ETS emissions by 2030 compared to 2005, coherent with an EU economy-wide emissions reduction target of at least 40 % by 2030 compared to 1990. More recent analysis by the Commission services, however, indicates that, if the legislation remains unchanged, the sectors currently covered by the EU ETS would instead achieve emission reductions of -51 % in 2030 compared to 2005 6 . Even though this would mean outperforming the contribution of -43 % referred to above, it would still be an insufficient contribution to an overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990. Therefore, the general objective of this initiative is to revise the ETS Directive in a manner commensurate with the 2030 climate ambition to reach at least 55 % net greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2030 below 1990 levels and with a gradual and balanced trajectory towards climate neutrality by 2050, in a cost-effective and coherent way while taking into account the need for a just transition and the need for all sectors to contribute to the EU’s climate efforts. As explained in the impact assessment, contribution of the sectors covered by the EU ETS of -61 % compared to 2005 is considered as best reflecting the 2030 Climate Target Plan results and is taken as the EU ETS ambition contributing to an overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990. Increasing the EU ETS’s environmental contribution entails adjusting primarily the total number of allowances issued under the EU ETS (the ‘cap’). However, a reduced amount of allowances available to the market affects other pillars of the EU ETS and the carbon price. It impacts core principles such as the need for market stability, the protection against the risk of carbon leakage, the carefully balanced distributional effects between Member States, and the availability of funds for the increased investment needs in low-carbon technologies. At the same time as the EU ETS is brought in line with the overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990, this increased climate ambition also needs to be reflected in the contribution to the EU’s climate efforts of sectors currently outside of the EU ETS. The impact assessment accompanying the 2030 Climate Target Plan found that in the absence of additional measures, emissions in certain sectors would not decrease as much as required to be on a path to achieve an economy-wide 55 % reduction in emissions. In fact, in maritime transport, emissions today are higher than in 1990, and maritime transport emissions are expected to grow further in a business-as-usual scenario . All pathways assessed as part of the 2030 Climate Target Plan and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 7 envisage 80-82 % emissions reductions from international shipping by 2050 relative to 1990 (equivalent to 88-89 % emissions reductions relative to 2008) 8 , in order to be consistent with the increased level of climate ambition. Therefore, the European Commission undertook the commitment to extend the EU ETS to maritime transport as part of a basket of EU measures to address emissions from maritime transport , along with action agreed within the IMO. In this context, the Commission welcomes the progress that the European Parliament and the Council have made since 2019 on the proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2015/757 9 in order to take appropriate account of the global data collection system for ship fuel oil consumption data ( COM(2019) 38 final) and the Commission takes note of the European Parliament’s Plenary support for the extension of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to cover maritime transport emissions from 2023. Emissions from maritime transport should be included in the existing emissions trading system. To ensure a smooth transition, a phase-in period should be introduced where shipping companies would only have to surrender allowances for a portion of their verified emissions, gradually rising to 100 % over 4 years. As only around 90 million tons of CO 2 would be added through the extension to maritime transport to the existing ETS, the impact on the availability of allowances for other sectors covered would remain limited. To take into account the inclusion of the maritime sector in the EU ETS, Regulation (EU) 2015/757 should be amended, in particular as regards the reporting of aggregated emissions data at company level and considering the role of administering authorities in respect of shipping companies. These amendments complement those proposed in COM(2019) 38 final. As specified in the 2030 Climate Target Plan, the building sector is currently responsible directly and indirectly for 36 % of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and has a large cost-effective potential to reduce emissions. More than half of those emissions are already covered by the existing ETS, notably the provision of electricity for use in buildings and most emissions of district heating. However, many homes are still heated with outdated systems that use polluting fossil fuels such as coal and oil. The sector of road transport also has a significant cost-effective reduction potential. Today, road transport accounts for a fifth of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and increased its emissions by over a quarter since 1990. As already considered in the European Green Deal Communication, the Commission is proposing to include the building sector and road transport into emissions trading. The coverage of these sectors by emissions trading, when put in the context of other appropriate regulatory and investment measures for the sectors in question, would provide for increased and more harmonised economic incentives to reduce emissions across these sectors in the EU and increased certainty of delivery of the emission reductions for those sectors. Emissions trading for the buildings and road transport sectors should be introduced through separate but adjacent emissions trading. This will avoid any disturbance of the well-functioning emissions trading system for stationary installations and aviation, given the different reduction potentials in those sectors and different factors that influence the demand. Any possible merger of the two systems should be assessed only after a few years of functioning of the new emissions trading, based on experience. The extension to buildings and road transport requires an upstream approach to regulated entities. Market stability is crucial for the EU ETS to function correctly to achieve its targets. To ensure market stability, Decision (EU) 2015/1814 10 established the market stability reserve (MSR). It began operating in January 2019. The objectives of the MSR are to tackle historical supply-demand imbalances and to make the EU ETS more resilient to major imbalances. The mechanism must preserve regulatory stability and ensure long-term predictability. Article 3 of the Decision requires the Commission to review the functioning of the reserve within three years of the start of the operation. This review needs to be considered together with the effects for market stability of increasing the ambition of the EU ETS, so the necessary amendments to the reserve are proposed together with the amendments to the EU ETS with this proposal. In this context, this proposal, as part of the Fit for 55 package, has the following specific objectives: – strengthening the EU ETS in its current scope in order to provide the appropriate contribution to an overall target of at least -55 % GHG emissions compared to 1990; – ensuring continued effective protection for the sectors exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage while incentivising the uptake of low-carbon technologies; – addressing the distributional and social effects of this transition, by reviewing the use of auctioning revenues and the size and functioning of the low-carbon funding mechanisms; – ensuring that the other sectors than those currently included in the EU ETS contribute cost-effectively to the emission reductions needed in line with EU targets and Paris Agreement commitments notably by including emissions from maritime transport and emissions from buildings and road transport under the rules of the EU ETS while ensuring synergies with other policies targeting those sectors; – reviewing the monitoring, reporting and verification system of CO 2 emissions from maritime transport to take into account the inclusion of the maritime transport sector in the EU ETS; – reviewing the market stability reserve in line with the corresponding legal obligation and examining possible amendments to its design, to fulfil the legal objectives in the MSR decision and to address any issues that may be raised in the context of the increased ambition.
Revised version (Article 1 Market stability reserve):
1. A market stability reserve shall be established in 2018 and the placing of allowances in the reserve shall operate from 1 January 2019. 2. The quantity of 900 million allowances deducted from auctioning volumes during the period 2014-2016, as determined in Regulation (EU) No 176/2014 pursuant to Article 10(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC, shall not be added to the volumes to be auctioned in 2019 and 2020 but shall instead be placed in the reserve. 3. Allowances not allocated to installations pursuant to Article 10a(7) of Directive 2003/87/EC and allowances not allocated to installations because of the application of Article 10a(19) and (20) of that Directive shall be placed in the reserve in 2020. The Commission shall review Directive 2003/87/EC in relation to those unallocated allowances and, if appropriate, submit a proposal to the European Parliament and to the Council. 4. The Commission shall publish the total number of allowances in circulation each year by 1 June of the subsequent year. The total number of allowances in circulation in a given year shall be the cumulative number of allowances issued in respect of installations and shipping companies and not placed in the reserve in the period since 1 January 2008, including the number of allowances that were issued pursuant to Article 13(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC, in the version in force on 18 March 2018, in that period and entitlements to use international credits exercised by installations under the EU ETS, up to 31 December of that given year, minus the cumulative tonnes of verified emissions from installations and shipping companies under the EU ETS between 1 January 2008 and 31 December of that same given year, and any allowances cancelled in accordance with Article 12(4) of Directive 2003/87/EC. No account shall be taken of emissions during the three-year period starting in 2005 and ending in 2007 and allowances issued in respect of those emissions. The first publication shall take place by 15 May 2017. 4a. As from 2024, the calculation of the total number of allowances in circulation in any given year shall include the cumulative number of allowances issued in respect of aviation and the cumulative tonnes of verified emissions from aviation under the EU ETS, excluding emissions from flights on routes covered by offsetting calculated pursuant to Article 12(6) of Directive 2003/87/EC, between 1 January 2024 and 31 December of that same given year. The allowances cancelled pursuant to Article 3gb of Directive 2003/87/EC shall be considered as issued for the purposes of the calculation of the total number of allowances in circulation. 5. In any given year, if the total number of allowances in circulation is between 833 million and 1 096 million, a number of allowances equal to the difference between the total number of allowances in circulation, as set out in the most recent publication as referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, and 833 million shall be deducted from the quantity of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC and shall be placed in the reserve over a period of 12 months beginning on 1 September of that year. If the total number of allowances in circulation is above 1 096 million allowances, the number of allowances to be deducted from the quantity of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC and to be placed in the reserve over a period of 12 months beginning on 1 September of that year shall be equal to 12 % of the total number of allowances in circulation. By way of derogation from the second sentence of this subparagraph, until 31 December 2030, the percentage referred to in that sentence shall be doubled. Without prejudice to the total number of allowances to be deducted pursuant to this paragraph, until 31 December 2030, allowances referred to in Article 10(2), first subparagraph, point (b), of Directive 2003/87/EC shall not be taken into account when determining Member States’ shares contributing to that total amount. 5a. Unless otherwise decided in the first review carried out in accordance with Article 3, from 2023 allowances held in the reserve above 400 million allowances shall no longer be valid. 6. In any year, if the total number of allowances in circulation is less than 400 million, 100 million allowances shall be released from the reserve and added to the volume of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of Directive 2003/87/EC. Where fewer than 100 million allowances are in the reserve, all allowances in the reserve shall be released under this paragraph. 7. In any given year, if paragraph 6 of this Article is not applicable and the condition in Article 29a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC has been met, 75 million allowances shall be released from the reserve and added to the quantity of allowances to be auctioned by the Member States under Article 10(2) of that Directive. Where fewer than 75 million allowances are in the reserve, all allowances in the reserve shall be released under this paragraph. Where the condition in Article 29a(1) of that Directive is met, the volumes to be released from the reserve in accordance with that Article shall be evenly distributed during a period of three months, starting no later than two months from the date when the condition in Article 29a(1) of that Directive is met as notified by the Commission in accordance with the fourth subparagraph thereof. 8. Where, following the publication of the total number of allowances in circulation, action is taken pursuant to paragraph 5, 6 or 7, the auction calendars shall take account of the allowances placed in the reserve or to be released from the reserve. The allowances shall be placed in the reserve or released from it over a period of 12 months. Where there is a release of allowances pursuant to paragraph 6 or 7, irrespective of the period during which the release takes place, it shall follow the Member States' shares applicable at the time the allowances were placed in the reserve and it shall also follow the order in which the allowances were placed in the reserve.
Article 2 Amendments to Directive 2003/87/EC
Directive 2003/87/EC is amended as follows: Article 10 is amended as follows: paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: ‘1. From 2019 onwards, Member States shall auction all allowances that are not allocated free of charge in accordance with Articles 10a and 10c and are not placed in the market stability reserve established by Decision (EU) 2015/1814 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( *1 ). the following paragraph is inserted after paragraph 1: In Article 13(2), the second subparagraph is replaced by the following: ‘Member States shall issue allowances to persons for the current period to replace any allowances held by them which are cancelled in accordance with the first subparagraph. Similarly, allowances held in the market stability reserve and which are no longer valid shall be replaced by allowances which are valid for the current period.’.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The European Green Deal Communication 1 launched a new growth strategy for the EU that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. It reaffirms the Commission’s ambition to increase its climate targets and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Furthermore, it aims to protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. The necessity and value of the European Green Deal have only grown in light of the very severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, living and working conditions and well-being of the Union’s citizens. Tackling climate change is an urgent challenge. In line with the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, global net-zero CO 2 emissions need to be achieved around 2050, and neutrality for all other greenhouse gases as soon as possible later in the century. This urgent challenge requires the EU to step up its action and demonstrate global leadership by becoming climate neutral by 2050. This objective is set out in the Communication ‘ A Clean Planet for all ’ - A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy’ 2 . Based on the European Green Deal strategy and a comprehensive impact assessment, the Commission’s Communication of September 2020 on Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition 3 (‘2030 Climate Target Plan’) proposed to raise the EU's ambition and put forward a comprehensive plan to increase the European Union’s binding target for 2030 towards at least 55 % net emission reduction, in a responsible way. Raising the 2030 ambition now helps give certainty to policymakers and investors, so that decisions made in the coming years do not lock in emission levels inconsistent with the EU’s objective to be climate neutral by 2050. The 2030 target is in line with the Paris Agreement objective to keep the global temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5°C. The European Council endorsed the new EU binding target for 2030 at its meeting of December 2020 4 . It also called on the Commission “ to assess how all economic sectors can best contribute to the 2030 target and to make the necessary proposals, accompanied by an in-depth examination of the environmental, economic and social impact at Member State level, taking into account national energy and climate plans and reviewing existing flexibilities ”. To this end, the European Climate Law 5 , as agreed with the co-legislators, makes the EU’s climate neutrality target legally binding, and raises the 2030 ambition by setting a target of at least 55 % net emission reductions by 2030 compared to 1990. In order to follow the pathway proposed in the European Climate Law, and deliver this increased level of ambition for 2030, the Commission has reviewed the climate and energy legislation currently in place that are expected to only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 % by 2030 and by 60 % by 2050. This ‘ Fit for 55 ’ legislative package, as announced in the 2030 Climate Target Plan, is the most comprehensive building block in the efforts to implement the ambitious new 2030 climate target, and all economic sectors and policies will need to make their contribution. The European Council also invited the Commission in December 2020 to consider exploring ways to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), while preserving its integrity and taking into account the need to address distributional concerns and energy poverty. The European Council also invited the Commission to consider proposing measures that enable energy-intensive industries to develop and deploy innovative climate-neutral technologies while maintaining their industrial competitiveness. The current ETS legislation was revised in 2018 to deliver a 43 % reduction in EU ETS emissions by 2030 compared to 2005, coherent with an EU economy-wide emissions reduction target of at least 40 % by 2030 compared to 1990. More recent analysis by the Commission services, however, indicates that, if the legislation remains unchanged, the sectors currently covered by the EU ETS would instead achieve emission reductions of -51 % in 2030 compared to 2005 6 . Even though this would mean outperforming the contribution of -43 % referred to above, it would still be an insufficient contribution to an overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990. Therefore, the general objective of this initiative is to revise the ETS Directive in a manner commensurate with the 2030 climate ambition to reach at least 55 % net greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2030 below 1990 levels and with a gradual and balanced trajectory towards climate neutrality by 2050, in a cost-effective and coherent way while taking into account the need for a just transition and the need for all sectors to contribute to the EU’s climate efforts. As explained in the impact assessment, contribution of the sectors covered by the EU ETS of -61 % compared to 2005 is considered as best reflecting the 2030 Climate Target Plan results and is taken as the EU ETS ambition contributing to an overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990. Increasing the EU ETS’s environmental contribution entails adjusting primarily the total number of allowances issued under the EU ETS (the ‘cap’). However, a reduced amount of allowances available to the market affects other pillars of the EU ETS and the carbon price. It impacts core principles such as the need for market stability, the protection against the risk of carbon leakage, the carefully balanced distributional effects between Member States, and the availability of funds for the increased investment needs in low-carbon technologies. At the same time as the EU ETS is brought in line with the overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990, this increased climate ambition also needs to be reflected in the contribution to the EU’s climate efforts of sectors currently outside of the EU ETS. The impact assessment accompanying the 2030 Climate Target Plan found that in the absence of additional measures, emissions in certain sectors would not decrease as much as required to be on a path to achieve an economy-wide 55 % reduction in emissions. In fact, in maritime transport, emissions today are higher than in 1990, and maritime transport emissions are expected to grow further in a business-as-usual scenario . All pathways assessed as part of the 2030 Climate Target Plan and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 7 envisage 80-82 % emissions reductions from international shipping by 2050 relative to 1990 (equivalent to 88-89 % emissions reductions relative to 2008) 8 , in order to be consistent with the increased level of climate ambition. Therefore, the European Commission undertook the commitment to extend the EU ETS to maritime transport as part of a basket of EU measures to address emissions from maritime transport , along with action agreed within the IMO. In this context, the Commission welcomes the progress that the European Parliament and the Council have made since 2019 on the proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2015/757 9 in order to take appropriate account of the global data collection system for ship fuel oil consumption data ( COM(2019) 38 final) and the Commission takes note of the European Parliament’s Plenary support for the extension of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to cover maritime transport emissions from 2023. Emissions from maritime transport should be included in the existing emissions trading system. To ensure a smooth transition, a phase-in period should be introduced where shipping companies would only have to surrender allowances for a portion of their verified emissions, gradually rising to 100 % over 4 years. As only around 90 million tons of CO 2 would be added through the extension to maritime transport to the existing ETS, the impact on the availability of allowances for other sectors covered would remain limited. To take into account the inclusion of the maritime sector in the EU ETS, Regulation (EU) 2015/757 should be amended, in particular as regards the reporting of aggregated emissions data at company level and considering the role of administering authorities in respect of shipping companies. These amendments complement those proposed in COM(2019) 38 final. As specified in the 2030 Climate Target Plan, the building sector is currently responsible directly and indirectly for 36 % of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and has a large cost-effective potential to reduce emissions. More than half of those emissions are already covered by the existing ETS, notably the provision of electricity for use in buildings and most emissions of district heating. However, many homes are still heated with outdated systems that use polluting fossil fuels such as coal and oil. The sector of road transport also has a significant cost-effective reduction potential. Today, road transport accounts for a fifth of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and increased its emissions by over a quarter since 1990. As already considered in the European Green Deal Communication, the Commission is proposing to include the building sector and road transport into emissions trading. The coverage of these sectors by emissions trading, when put in the context of other appropriate regulatory and investment measures for the sectors in question, would provide for increased and more harmonised economic incentives to reduce emissions across these sectors in the EU and increased certainty of delivery of the emission reductions for those sectors. Emissions trading for the buildings and road transport sectors should be introduced through separate but adjacent emissions trading. This will avoid any disturbance of the well-functioning emissions trading system for stationary installations and aviation, given the different reduction potentials in those sectors and different factors that influence the demand. Any possible merger of the two systems should be assessed only after a few years of functioning of the new emissions trading, based on experience. The extension to buildings and road transport requires an upstream approach to regulated entities. Market stability is crucial for the EU ETS to function correctly to achieve its targets. To ensure market stability, Decision (EU) 2015/1814 10 established the market stability reserve (MSR). It began operating in January 2019. The objectives of the MSR are to tackle historical supply-demand imbalances and to make the EU ETS more resilient to major imbalances. The mechanism must preserve regulatory stability and ensure long-term predictability. Article 3 of the Decision requires the Commission to review the functioning of the reserve within three years of the start of the operation. This review needs to be considered together with the effects for market stability of increasing the ambition of the EU ETS, so the necessary amendments to the reserve are proposed together with the amendments to the EU ETS with this proposal. In this context, this proposal, as part of the Fit for 55 package, has the following specific objectives: – strengthening the EU ETS in its current scope in order to provide the appropriate contribution to an overall target of at least -55 % GHG emissions compared to 1990; – ensuring continued effective protection for the sectors exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage while incentivising the uptake of low-carbon technologies; – addressing the distributional and social effects of this transition, by reviewing the use of auctioning revenues and the size and functioning of the low-carbon funding mechanisms; – ensuring that the other sectors than those currently included in the EU ETS contribute cost-effectively to the emission reductions needed in line with EU targets and Paris Agreement commitments notably by including emissions from maritime transport and emissions from buildings and road transport under the rules of the EU ETS while ensuring synergies with other policies targeting those sectors; – reviewing the monitoring, reporting and verification system of CO 2 emissions from maritime transport to take into account the inclusion of the maritime transport sector in the EU ETS; – reviewing the market stability reserve in line with the corresponding legal obligation and examining possible amendments to its design, to fulfil the legal objectives in the MSR decision and to address any issues that may be raised in the context of the increased ambition.
Article 3 Review
The Commission shall monitor the functioning of the reserve in the context of the report provided for in Article 10(5) of Directive 2003/87/EC. That report should consider relevant effects on competitiveness, in particular in the industrial sector, including in relation to GDP, employment and investment indicators. Within three years of the start of the operation of the reserve and at five-year intervals thereafter, the Commission shall, on the basis of an analysis of the orderly functioning of the European carbon market, review the reserve and submit a proposal, where appropriate, to the European Parliament and to the Council. Each review shall pay particular attention to the percentage figure for the determination of the number of allowances to be placed in the reserve pursuant to Article 1(5) of this Decision, as well as the numerical value of the threshold for the total number of allowances in circulation and the number of allowances to be released from the reserve pursuant to Article 1(6) or (7) of this Decision. In its review, the Commission shall also look into the impact of the reserve on growth, jobs, the Union's industrial competitiveness and on the risk of carbon leakage.
Amendment rationale: CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL Reasons for and objectives of the proposal The European Green Deal Communication 1 launched a new growth strategy for the EU that aims to transform the EU into a fair and prosperous society with a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy. It reaffirms the Commission’s ambition to increase its climate targets and make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. Furthermore, it aims to protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and impacts. The necessity and value of the European Green Deal have only grown in light of the very severe effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health, living and working conditions and well-being of the Union’s citizens. Tackling climate change is an urgent challenge. In line with the scientific findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report, global net-zero CO 2 emissions need to be achieved around 2050, and neutrality for all other greenhouse gases as soon as possible later in the century. This urgent challenge requires the EU to step up its action and demonstrate global leadership by becoming climate neutral by 2050. This objective is set out in the Communication ‘ A Clean Planet for all ’ - A European strategic long-term vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate-neutral economy’ 2 . Based on the European Green Deal strategy and a comprehensive impact assessment, the Commission’s Communication of September 2020 on Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition 3 (‘2030 Climate Target Plan’) proposed to raise the EU's ambition and put forward a comprehensive plan to increase the European Union’s binding target for 2030 towards at least 55 % net emission reduction, in a responsible way. Raising the 2030 ambition now helps give certainty to policymakers and investors, so that decisions made in the coming years do not lock in emission levels inconsistent with the EU’s objective to be climate neutral by 2050. The 2030 target is in line with the Paris Agreement objective to keep the global temperature increase to well below 2°C and pursue efforts to keep it to 1.5°C. The European Council endorsed the new EU binding target for 2030 at its meeting of December 2020 4 . It also called on the Commission “ to assess how all economic sectors can best contribute to the 2030 target and to make the necessary proposals, accompanied by an in-depth examination of the environmental, economic and social impact at Member State level, taking into account national energy and climate plans and reviewing existing flexibilities ”. To this end, the European Climate Law 5 , as agreed with the co-legislators, makes the EU’s climate neutrality target legally binding, and raises the 2030 ambition by setting a target of at least 55 % net emission reductions by 2030 compared to 1990. In order to follow the pathway proposed in the European Climate Law, and deliver this increased level of ambition for 2030, the Commission has reviewed the climate and energy legislation currently in place that are expected to only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 % by 2030 and by 60 % by 2050. This ‘ Fit for 55 ’ legislative package, as announced in the 2030 Climate Target Plan, is the most comprehensive building block in the efforts to implement the ambitious new 2030 climate target, and all economic sectors and policies will need to make their contribution. The European Council also invited the Commission in December 2020 to consider exploring ways to strengthen the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), while preserving its integrity and taking into account the need to address distributional concerns and energy poverty. The European Council also invited the Commission to consider proposing measures that enable energy-intensive industries to develop and deploy innovative climate-neutral technologies while maintaining their industrial competitiveness. The current ETS legislation was revised in 2018 to deliver a 43 % reduction in EU ETS emissions by 2030 compared to 2005, coherent with an EU economy-wide emissions reduction target of at least 40 % by 2030 compared to 1990. More recent analysis by the Commission services, however, indicates that, if the legislation remains unchanged, the sectors currently covered by the EU ETS would instead achieve emission reductions of -51 % in 2030 compared to 2005 6 . Even though this would mean outperforming the contribution of -43 % referred to above, it would still be an insufficient contribution to an overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990. Therefore, the general objective of this initiative is to revise the ETS Directive in a manner commensurate with the 2030 climate ambition to reach at least 55 % net greenhouse gas emission reductions by 2030 below 1990 levels and with a gradual and balanced trajectory towards climate neutrality by 2050, in a cost-effective and coherent way while taking into account the need for a just transition and the need for all sectors to contribute to the EU’s climate efforts. As explained in the impact assessment, contribution of the sectors covered by the EU ETS of -61 % compared to 2005 is considered as best reflecting the 2030 Climate Target Plan results and is taken as the EU ETS ambition contributing to an overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990. Increasing the EU ETS’s environmental contribution entails adjusting primarily the total number of allowances issued under the EU ETS (the ‘cap’). However, a reduced amount of allowances available to the market affects other pillars of the EU ETS and the carbon price. It impacts core principles such as the need for market stability, the protection against the risk of carbon leakage, the carefully balanced distributional effects between Member States, and the availability of funds for the increased investment needs in low-carbon technologies. At the same time as the EU ETS is brought in line with the overall target of at least -55 % compared to 1990, this increased climate ambition also needs to be reflected in the contribution to the EU’s climate efforts of sectors currently outside of the EU ETS. The impact assessment accompanying the 2030 Climate Target Plan found that in the absence of additional measures, emissions in certain sectors would not decrease as much as required to be on a path to achieve an economy-wide 55 % reduction in emissions. In fact, in maritime transport, emissions today are higher than in 1990, and maritime transport emissions are expected to grow further in a business-as-usual scenario . All pathways assessed as part of the 2030 Climate Target Plan and the Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy 7 envisage 80-82 % emissions reductions from international shipping by 2050 relative to 1990 (equivalent to 88-89 % emissions reductions relative to 2008) 8 , in order to be consistent with the increased level of climate ambition. Therefore, the European Commission undertook the commitment to extend the EU ETS to maritime transport as part of a basket of EU measures to address emissions from maritime transport , along with action agreed within the IMO. In this context, the Commission welcomes the progress that the European Parliament and the Council have made since 2019 on the proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2015/757 9 in order to take appropriate account of the global data collection system for ship fuel oil consumption data ( COM(2019) 38 final) and the Commission takes note of the European Parliament’s Plenary support for the extension of the EU’s Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to cover maritime transport emissions from 2023. Emissions from maritime transport should be included in the existing emissions trading system. To ensure a smooth transition, a phase-in period should be introduced where shipping companies would only have to surrender allowances for a portion of their verified emissions, gradually rising to 100 % over 4 years. As only around 90 million tons of CO 2 would be added through the extension to maritime transport to the existing ETS, the impact on the availability of allowances for other sectors covered would remain limited. To take into account the inclusion of the maritime sector in the EU ETS, Regulation (EU) 2015/757 should be amended, in particular as regards the reporting of aggregated emissions data at company level and considering the role of administering authorities in respect of shipping companies. These amendments complement those proposed in COM(2019) 38 final. As specified in the 2030 Climate Target Plan, the building sector is currently responsible directly and indirectly for 36 % of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the EU and has a large cost-effective potential to reduce emissions. More than half of those emissions are already covered by the existing ETS, notably the provision of electricity for use in buildings and most emissions of district heating. However, many homes are still heated with outdated systems that use polluting fossil fuels such as coal and oil. The sector of road transport also has a significant cost-effective reduction potential. Today, road transport accounts for a fifth of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and increased its emissions by over a quarter since 1990. As already considered in the European Green Deal Communication, the Commission is proposing to include the building sector and road transport into emissions trading. The coverage of these sectors by emissions trading, when put in the context of other appropriate regulatory and investment measures for the sectors in question, would provide for increased and more harmonised economic incentives to reduce emissions across these sectors in the EU and increased certainty of delivery of the emission reductions for those sectors. Emissions trading for the buildings and road transport sectors should be introduced through separate but adjacent emissions trading. This will avoid any disturbance of the well-functioning emissions trading system for stationary installations and aviation, given the different reduction potentials in those sectors and different factors that influence the demand. Any possible merger of the two systems should be assessed only after a few years of functioning of the new emissions trading, based on experience. The extension to buildings and road transport requires an upstream approach to regulated entities. Market stability is crucial for the EU ETS to function correctly to achieve its targets. To ensure market stability, Decision (EU) 2015/1814 10 established the market stability reserve (MSR). It began operating in January 2019. The objectives of the MSR are to tackle historical supply-demand imbalances and to make the EU ETS more resilient to major imbalances. The mechanism must preserve regulatory stability and ensure long-term predictability. Article 3 of the Decision requires the Commission to review the functioning of the reserve within three years of the start of the operation. This review needs to be considered together with the effects for market stability of increasing the ambition of the EU ETS, so the necessary amendments to the reserve are proposed together with the amendments to the EU ETS with this proposal. In this context, this proposal, as part of the Fit for 55 package, has the following specific objectives: – strengthening the EU ETS in its current scope in order to provide the appropriate contribution to an overall target of at least -55 % GHG emissions compared to 1990; – ensuring continued effective protection for the sectors exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage while incentivising the uptake of low-carbon technologies; – addressing the distributional and social effects of this transition, by reviewing the use of auctioning revenues and the size and functioning of the low-carbon funding mechanisms; – ensuring that the other sectors than those currently included in the EU ETS contribute cost-effectively to the emission reductions needed in line with EU targets and Paris Agreement commitments notably by including emissions from maritime transport and emissions from buildings and road transport under the rules of the EU ETS while ensuring synergies with other policies targeting those sectors; – reviewing the monitoring, reporting and verification system of CO 2 emissions from maritime transport to take into account the inclusion of the maritime transport sector in the EU ETS; – reviewing the market stability reserve in line with the corresponding legal obligation and examining possible amendments to its design, to fulfil the legal objectives in the MSR decision and to address any issues that may be raised in the context of the increased ambition.
Revised version (Article 3 Review):
The Commission shall monitor the functioning of the reserve in the context of the report provided for in Article 10(5) of Directive 2003/87/EC. That report should consider relevant effects on competitiveness, in particular in the industrial sector, including in relation to GDP, employment and investment indicators. Within three years of the start of the operation of the reserve and at five-year intervals thereafter, the Commission shall, on the basis of an analysis of the orderly functioning of the European carbon market, review the reserve and submit a legislative proposal, where appropriate, to the European Parliament and to the Council. Each review shall pay particular attention to the percentage figure for the determination of the number of allowances to be placed in the reserve pursuant to Article 1(5) of this Decision, the numerical value of the threshold for the total number of allowances in circulation, including with a view to a potential adjustment of that threshold in line with the linear factor referred to in Article 9 of Directive 2003/87/EC, as well as the number of allowances to be released from the reserve pursuant to Article 1(6) or (7) of this Decision. In its review, the Commission shall also look into the impact of the reserve on growth, jobs, and the Union’s industrial competitiveness and on the risk of carbon leakage.
Article 4 Transitional provision
Article 10(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC as amended by Directive 2009/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 1 ) shall continue to apply until 31 December 2018.
Article 5 Entry into force
This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .