Implementation of the CCS Directive

The Commission ensures the coherent implementation of the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) Directive throughout the EU by reporting on its execution, facilitating exchanges between the competent authorities, publishing guidance documents, and adopting Commission Opinions on draft storage permits.

The CCS Directive includes reporting requirements for Member States and the Commission:

• Every 4 years, Member States report to the Commission on the implementation of the Directive.
• The Commission then reports to the European Parliament and the Council on its implementation across the EU.

The Commission has published 4 implementation reports:

• 1^st implementation report, February 2014 – based on Member States' reports delivered between July 2011 and April 2013, this report covers the implementation of all key provisions and state of transposition of the Directive and the Commission’s actions to improve it.
• 2^nd implementation report, February 2017 – covering the period from May 2013 to April 2016, this report focuses on the articles that had practical application in Member States.
• 3^rd implementation report, October 2019 – based on national reports covering the period from May 2016 to April 2019, this report focuses on the progress made by Member States since the 2^nd implementation report.
• 4^th implementation report, October 2023 – based on national reports covering the period from May 2019 to April 2023, this report emphasises operational and regulatory developments since the previous implementation report.

As of 2023, the Commission publishes national reports on the implementation of the CCS directive received from each reporting country in the EU and EEA.

An Information Exchange Group has been established to

• organise an exchange of information between the competent authorities of the Member States, and
• promote a coherent implementation of the CCS Directive throughout the EU.

As part of efforts to ensure knowledge sharing and exchange of practical information for the coherent implementation of the CCS Directive, the Commission services organise workshops and meetings with stakeholders and/or Member States.

• Report of the “CCS Directive – Knowledge sharing workshop: Innovation Fund and Projects of Common Interest (PCIs)” on 15 February 2022.
• Report of “ETS Innovation Fund – Knowledge sharing workshop: The emerging EU CO₂ transport and storage market” on 30 March 2023.
  • Presentations
  • Background Documents

Meetings of the Information Exchange Group (IEG) under the CCS Directive (Directive 2009/31/EC, Art. 27.2):

• Report of the Meeting on 11 October 2023
• Report of the Meeting on 12 April 2023
• Report of the Meeting on 14 December 2022
• Commission services analysis paper on “The EU legal framework for cross-border CO₂ transport and storage in the context of the requirements of the London Protocol"
• Report of the Meeting on 6 July 2022

Four guidance documents were published in 2011 to

• provide an overall methodological approach for implementing the key provisions of the CCS Directive and
• help ensure environmentally safe geological storage of CO₂ across the EU.

The first guidance document outlines a CO₂ storage life cycle risk management framework.

The other three address in more detail issues such as the characterisation of the storage complex, CO₂ stream composition, monitoring and corrective measures, the criteria for transfer of responsibility to the Member State, and financial security.
The documents are mainly addressed to the competent authorities and relevant stakeholders.
They have been discussed with experts from Member States and key stakeholders, including industry, research community and NGOs.

Updating of the guidance documents

The Commission services have contracted DNV Netherlands B.V. for gathering views and inputs for a technical update of the four Guidance Documents to reflect the global state of the art of CCS and removing ambiguities identified during the implementation of the first CCS deployments in the European Economic Area (EEA). Please contact the team under:

• E-Mail: ccs-guidance-updatednv [dot] com (ccs-guidance-update[at]dnv[dot]com)
• Website: http://ccsguidanceupdate.dnv.com/

The CCS Directive requires the Member States to make CO₂ storage permit applications available to the Commission within one month of receiving them. Member States have to provide the Commission with draft storage permits and any other related material that the competent authority has taken into consideration to decide on the award of a permit.

The Commission may provide a non-binding Opinion on the draft storage permit within four months of its receipt.

Opinions provided:

• 05/2022 - Opinion on the draft permit to permanently store carbon dioxide in block section P18-2 of the Dutch continental shelf and on the amendment to the permit to permanently store carbon dioxide in block section P18-4
• 01/2016 - Opinion on a draft storage permit for the permanent storage of carbon dioxide in the depleted Goldeneye gas condensate field on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf.
• 02/2012 - Opinion on the draft permit for the permanent storage of CO₂ offshore on the Dutch continental shelf.

For more information on the CCS Directive and its implementation, please contact CLIMA-CCS-DIRECTIVEec [dot] europa [dot] eu (CLIMA-CCS-DIRECTIVE[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).

Click on the + signs for more information.