The 16th EU ETS Compliance Conference

The 16th EU ETS Compliance Conference organized on 25 and 26 November 2025, with around 300 participants joining either online or in person in the conference centre in Brussels, offered opportunity for participants to learn from the colleagues who were shaping the EU ETS to what it is today, and get equipped for the challenges ahead.

This year's jubilee edition was organised around the central theme 20 years of EU ETS – the road to a carbon neutral future. Presentations were combined with breakout sessions and one panel discussion. 

As the name of the conference indicates, the main topic is Monitoring, Reporting and Verification of emissions and Accreditation of verifiers (MRVA) within the EU ETS compliance cycle and compliance with the harmonized MRVA rules across the EU ETS countries (EU-27 and 3 EEA countries).   

The Compliance Conference is organized annually by DG CLIMA for the Competent Authorities, their supporting agencies and National Accreditation Bodies with the aim to inform and exchange best practices about recent developments of the EU ETS framework. 

The colleagues from the Energy Community Secretariat and some representatives from public bodies of the Energy Community Parties that work on implementation of ETS (this year from Serbia and Georgia) equally followed the Compliance Conference as participants. 

First day: looking back to the past 20 years

The conference started by the short video address from the Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra. Afterwards, the keynote address from the Director-General Kurt Vandenberghe elaborated on the impact the EU ETS had on the EU and global climate policy throughout the past 20 years. Director-General also shared the first-hand experience on the main takeaways from COP30.   

Johannes Enzmann (CLIMA B1) presented a comprehensive retrospective of the EU ETS, covering its evolution from inception to present day, and highlighting key milestones, extensions, and achievements across four trading phases. 

Later in the morning the panel of selected speakers shared their personal anecdotes and memories and offered a unique glimpse into the EU ETS history and evolution. The panellists' narratives were supported by the interactive quiz that tested participants’ knowledge of the EU ETS history.  

In the afternoon, three times two Task Forces chaired by Member States representatives were organized in parallel in the so-called breakout sessions. 6 Task Forces (on Monitoring and Reporting, on Verification and Accreditation, on CCUS, on aviation, on maritime and on ETS2) discussed recent developments and progress made in the topic areas.  

Second day: looking at new areas of EU ETS

The Day 2 of the conference started with a presentation from Beata Kusova (CLIMA B4) on sustainable aviation fuels eligible for financial support to commercial aircraft operators under the EU ETS and the results after the first year of application. Next, Luca Colonna (CLIMA B4) presented the results from the maritime sector after the first compliance year and what support to implementation is available to Member States and other stakeholders.   

Marcos Gonzalez Alvarez (Head of Unit, CLIMA B5) shared with the audience the status update on ETS2 and Social Climate Fund, how the two are intrinsically linked and their role in decarbonizing road transport, building and additional sectors. 

Edith Hofer (deputy Head of Unit, ENER C2) elaborated on the impact of Renewable Energy Directive (RED) for the EU ETS operators: on compliance with sustainability criteria for proving zero rating of biomass, voluntary schemes to be available and the development of Union Database (UDB) supporting compliance with renewables provisions. 

Finally, the Task Force leaders informed participants on the main activities of each of the six Compliance Forum Task Forces in the past year and their agendas for the coming year. Compliance Forum Task Forces (TF) are Member States-driven platforms that provide input to the work of the Commission.  

Proceedings

Conference programme - Final agenda - 16^th EU ETS Compliance Conference

Presentations 

Day 1:

• 1. 20 years of the EU ETS – retrospective with facts and figures
• 2. Breakout sessions of the Compliance Forum Task Forces (TF):
  • 2.1 Breakout session - TF Maritime
  • 2.2 Breakout session - TF ETS2
  • 2.3 Breakout session - TF Monitoring & Reporting (M&R)
  • 2.4 Breakout session - TF Aviation
  • 2.5 Breakout session - TF Accreditation & Verification (A&V)
  • 2.6 Breakout session - TF Carbon Capture, Storage and Utilization (CCUS)

Day 2: 

• 3. ETS support for use of eligible aviation fuels – from the concept to the results
• 4. Maritime – lessons from the first compliance year
• 5. Implementation of ETS2 and the Social Climate Fund
• 6. Impact of Renewable Energy Directive on EU ETS