Explore the basics of the EU ETS
About the Union Registry
The Union Registry is an online database that helps guarantee the precise accounting of all allowances issued under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). The Registry keeps track of the ownership of allowances held in electronic accounts, just as a bank has a record of all its customers and their money. Ultimately, it helps assessing if operators and regulated entities comply with their obligation to report emissions and surrender allowances accordingly.
The following information is publicly available on the Union Registry website:
- Data on free allocation, verified emissions, and compliance status of operators
- Transactions taking place in the Registry, as well as data on account holders
A single EU Registry
In 2012, EU ETS operations were centralised into a single registry operated by the European Commission. The Union Registry covers all countries participating in the EU ETS and holds accounts for:
- stationary installations (transferred from national registries used before 2012)
- aircraft operators (since January 2012)
- maritime operators (since January 2024)
The Registry records:
- National implementation measures (namely, a list of installations covered by the ETS Directive in each EU country, detailing their respective free allocation of allowances)
- Accounts of companies holding such allowances
- Transfers of allowances (known as "transactions") performed by account holders
- Annual verified CO2 emissions from operators
- Annual reconciliation of allowances and verified emissions, requiring each company to surrender enough allowances to cover all its verified emissions
Opening accounts in the Union Registry
To participate in the EU ETS, be it for compliance or trading of allowances companies must open an account in the Union Registry.
To open an account, companies must send a request to their respective national administrator, who collects and verifies all supporting documentation.
Once their request is approved, companies receive credentials to access their account on the Union Registry portal.
Registry Regulation
Other useful documents
- 09/10/2024 - List of transactions until 1 October 2021
- 04/2024 - List of operators in the EU ETS
Reports
- 03/10/2024 - Compliance data for 2023
- 04/04/2024 - Verified Emissions for 2023
- 04/05/2023 - Compliance data for 2022
- 04/04/2023 - Verified Emissions for 2022
- 04/05/2022 - Compliance data for 2021
- 01/04/2022 - Verified Emissions for 2021
Registry Regulation
Other useful documents
- 04/2021 - List of operators in the EU ETS
Reports
- 05/05/2021 - Compliance data for 2020
- 06/04/2021 - Verified Emissions for 2020
- 04/05/2020 - Compliance data for 2019
- 15/04/2020 - Verified Emissions for 2019
- 02/05/2019 - Compliance data for 2018
- 01/04/2019 - Verified Emissions for 2018
- 01/05/2018 - Compliance data for 2017
- 01/04/2018 - Verified Emissions for 2017
- 02/05/2017 - Compliance data for 2016
- 03/04/2017 - Corrected table of 2016 verified emissions
- 02/05/2016 - Compliance data for 2015
- 01/04/2016 - Verified Emissions for 2015
- 04/05/2015 - Compliance data for 2014
- 01/04/2015 - Verified Emissions for 2014
- 15/05/2014 - Compliance data for 2013
- 14/05/2014 - Credits exchanged by 30 April 2014
- 01/04/2014 - Verified Emissions for 2013
National Allocation Plan Tables
- National Allocation Plan Table Decisions 2008-12: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
- 08-12 Initial NAP tables (the up-to-date situation can be downloaded from the CITL): Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Reports
- 16/05/2013 - CERs and ERUs surrendered under EU ETS
- Cumulative compliance data 2008 to 2012
- 02/04/2013 - Verified Emissions data 2008 to 2012
SEF Reports
- Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Other useful documents
- Factsheet: The EU ETS is delivering emission cuts
- 07/10/2010 - EU 920/2010 - Commission Regulation establishing a Union Registry for the periods ending 31 December 2012 of the Union emissions trading scheme pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Decision No 280/2004/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council - (EN unofficial consolidated version)
- Table of the Holding of Unit Types in the ETS per Member State
- 19/03/2010 - List of CERs that have been surrendered under EU ETS
- List of Stationary Installations in the Union Registry
National Allocation Plan Tables
- National Allocation Plan Table Decisions 2005-2007: Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Reports
- 2007 National reports on verified emission and surrendered allowances: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom
- 2006 National reports on verified emission and surrendered allowances as of 8/5/2007: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom
- 2005 National reports on verified emission and surrendered allowances: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom
- Technical note on CITL Reports
Other useful documents
- 01/04/2015 - Verified Emissions for 2014
FAQs
FAQs - Implementation of new rules due to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122
Kyoto Protocol registries
Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 covers ETS accounts only (listed in Annex I of that Regulation. Accordingly, new or existing accounts in the national Kyoto registries (known as “Kyoto accounts”) continue to be subject to Regulation (EU) No 389/2013. Therefore, these accounts will receive a different treatment concerning account representatives, as well as the initiation and execution of transactions. As national Kyoto registries remain open beyond 1 January 2021, Kyoto accounts remain accessible accordingly.
Yes. Until the end of the compliance period for 2020 emissions, i.e. until 30 April 2021, eligible international credits can be exchanged to emission allowances up to the number defined by the international credit entitlements. Until this date, eligible international credits can be transferred between ETS accounts. If an exchange takes place, the account will be credited allowances issued for the third trading period.
After 1 May 2021, international credits are not eligible for use in the EU ETS and, after this date, international credit entitlements will cease to exist (unused entitlement will be lost). Accordingly, ETS accounts cannot accept international credits. Ineligible credits may remain on the ETS accounts until 1 July 2023. After this date, the holders of accounts that still contain ineligible units will be requested to transfer these units to an account that can hold them. If the units are not removed within 40 working days after this request, the national administrator will remove the units from the respective ETS accounts, in accordance with Article 85 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1122.
On 1 January 2021, existing person holding accounts were transformed into trading accounts. It is no longer possible to open new person holding accounts (please note that person holding accounts in the Kyoto registries will not be transformed).
Only general allowances will be issued, further allocated, and auctioned from 1 January 2025. However, existing aviation allowances will not be touched and can remain on the market until they are used for surrenders or deleted.
By the end of the compliance period, my account will have a positive compliance status figure (I surrendered more than my registered verified emissions). What happens with this surplus?
This surplus is taken in account when calculating the compliance status figure for the following year (i.e., less allowances need to be surrendered). According to old rules, the “over-surrender” of an account was deleted when changing trading periods. The new Registry Regulation provides for keeping this surplus and enables to take this into account in the next trading period. It is not possible in any way to reverse the surplus to the (aircraft) operator holding account.
From 1 January 2021, operator holding accounts may hold aviation allowances (this does not depend on the issuance year of the allowances).
Due to conflict-of-interest rules, verifiers cannot have an account and hold emission allowances in the Union Registry. Therefore, verifiers are registered in the Union Registry, instead of having a special account type (verifier account). However, all the processes relating to verifiers and verification of emissions remain unchanged.
Account representatives have one of the following rights related to the accounts:
- Initiator - Initiate a transaction or a process
- Approver - Approve a transaction or a process
- Initiator/Approver - Initiate and approve transactions or processes (not the same transaction/process)
- Read only
By default, the execution of processes requires one account representative to initiate and a second one to approve it. If account holder wishes so, it may allow an account representative with right to initiate (or initiate and approve) processes to execute transactions to accounts that are listed as trusted (trusted account list, TAL), without an approval from a second person. This wish must be expressed in the form of a duly signed document, which must be submitted to the national administrator.
This option would enable to execute transfers to trusted accounts as well as surrenders and deletions of allowances by one single account representative. This is why account holders should consider it carefully (also because transactions initiated in business hours would be executed immediately and cannot be withdrawn – see questions in the “Transfers” section).
To open an account, two account representatives are needed to ensure that processes requiring two people can be executed: one of them must have initiation rights and the other approval rights (accordingly, one or both may have the option of having both initiation and approval rights).
For the proper operation of an account, two account representatives are necessary, one that can initiate transactions and one that approves these transactions.
It is possible to change the rights of an account representative at any time by submitting a written request to the national administrator. When submitting such request, the functionality of the account should be kept in mind, i.e. at least one account representative should have initiating right and at least one approval right (accordingly, one or both may have the option of having both initiation and approval rights).
By default, it is not possible for these accounts to initiate transactions to accounts that are not on the trusted account list. However, if the account holder wishes to enable transactions to accounts not listed on the trusted account list (in the form of a duly signed document submitted to the national administrator), it will be possible.
In this case, all transactions to accounts not listed on the trusted account list will require two account representatives: one that will initiate and another one that will approve it.
If a transaction to an account listed on the trusted account list:
- Is approved (or initiated if approval is not required) within business hours (working days 10.00-16.00 CET) → executed immediately
- Is approved (or initiated if approval is not required) outside business hours → executed at the next start of the business hours
If a transaction to an account not on the trusted account list:
- Is approved before 12.00 CET of a working day → executed at 12.00 CET on the next working day
- Is approved after 12.00 CET of a working day → executed at 12.00 CET on the second working day thereafter
- Is approved on a non-working day → executed at 12.00 of the second working day thereafter
Transfers to accounts on the trusted account list:
- One account representative with initiating right and another one with approving right
- In case the account holder requested the abolishing of the approval requirement: one account representative with initiation right (or initiation and approval right).
Transfers to accounts not listed on the trusted account list - for (aircraft) operator holding accounts this is possible only if it was explicitly requested from the national administrator:
- One account representative with initiating right and another one with approving right (accordingly, one or both may have the option of having both initiation and approval rights). No exception is possible from this rule.
To add accounts to the trusted account list:
- One account representative with initiating right and another one with approving right (accordingly, one or both of them may have the option of having both initiation and approval rights). No exception is possible from this rule.
Under the old legislation, account holders could initiate a transfer to an account on the trusted account list without approval of an additional account representative. Since 1 January 2021, the default approval requirement applies to all accounts and transfers. However, account holders can request the approval requirement for transfers to accounts on the trusted account list to be abolished, meaning that one account representative having the right to initiate transactions (or having both initiation and approval rights) can perform such transfer alone. This request should be expressed in the form of a document signed by the account holder and submitted to the national administrator. Please note that transactions to accounts not listed on the trusted account list (if allowed) always require the approval of a second account representative.
As regards account representatives, surrender and deletion of allowances are treated the same way as transactions to account on the trusted account list. This means that, by default, two account representatives are necessary for these types of transactions, but the account holder may request the abolishing of the approval requirement.
The transfer shall be considered a bilateral transaction, unless that transaction has been executed through a market venue’s systems and reported pursuant to Article 26(5) of Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1), or has been cleared at a central counterparty pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 648/2012.
Allowances issued in the third trading period of the EU ETS (before 2021) are valid indefinitely. Account holdings will be maintained beyond 1 January 2021 accordingly, and the allowances held can be used in the Union Registry the same way as before.
Allowances issued in the fourth trading period (for the years 2021-2030) can be used (surrendered) only for emissions of the year 2021 and later. However, emission allowances issued in the third trading period (for the years 2013-2020) can be used without restrictions.
Concerning the transfer and deletion of the allowances, there is no restriction or difference.
Allowances issued in the Swiss Emissions Trading System are equivalent to EU emission allowances. As the Swiss allowances also have indication of the period of issuance, the same restrictions apply to them as to EU allowances.
The Union Registry will clearly display whether a particular allowance was issued for the third or the fourth trading period of the EU ETS (see screenshot below).
Accordingly, it will be possible to choose which allowance is to be transferred/surrendered/deleted.
If the initiated (and approved) transaction is subject to a delay, this can be withdrawn. The deadline for that is two hours before the execution hour (see above).
Transactions that are executed immediately (transfers to accounts on the trusted account list) cannot be withdrawn.
If the transaction is subject to delay (transfers to accounts not listed on the trusted account list), it should be aborted and at the same time the national administrator and the competent national law enforcement authority (e.g. police) should be informed. If the transaction is already executed (not subject to delay), the national administrator should be informed to take the necessary and possible measures.
Personal data, as defined by the GDPR legislation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), will be retained for five years after the Union Registry has no more business relation with the natural person. After five years, this data will be stored in a form that is accessible only to the central administrator of the Union Registry and can be used only for crime investigation purposes. After this extended period of time, the personal data will be removed from the Union Registry.
After the expiry of the five-year retention period, personal data will be anonymised.
Account holders may decide that telephone numbers and the email address should be public. This need to be requested to the national administrator. This data will then be published on the Union Registry website.
FAQs - Implementation of new registry rules regarding units from Joint Implementation (02/2013)
See the FAQ on International Carbon Market
FAQs - General Q&A on Registries (05/2013)
The registries of the EU ETS record the holding of emission allowances and the transactions concerning those allowances, like any banking system does for money. The main types of transactions are:
- creation of allowances
- free allocation
- auctioning
- trading
- surrendering of allowances for compliance
- Deletion of allowances
The registries also record installations, as well as aircraft operators and maritime operators surrendering allowances to cover their verified emissions.
In the EU ETS, the possibility to use international credits directly, which was open to operators in the second trading period, is replaced in the third trading period by the exchange of eligible credits for allowances. The exchange mechanism is formally put in place by the updated Registry Regulation.
As regards international credits generated by Joint Implementation projects (Emission Reduction Units – ERUs), provisions are set out to implement rules laid down in the ETS Directive and the Kyoto Protocol. For more details, see the FAQ on International Carbon Market.
Beyond the ETS, the Registry Regulation implements the accounting of transactions under the Effort Sharing Decision in the Union registry.
Following the fraud concerning emission allowances in 2010 and 2011, the security of the Registry has become a priority. In early 2011, the Commission took immediate action by suspending all national registries temporarily until they fulfilled minimum security requirements. Additional measures were adopted in 2011 to bring the security of the Registry in line with state-of-the-art security measures used in the financial sector.
Summary of the main new security measures in the Regulation.
- Preventive measures to avoid fraud include:
- Two-factor authentication (similar to the use of a token in online banking);
- Out-of-band confirmation of transactions;
- Introduction of a trusted account list;
- Obligatory 4-eyes principle;
- Strengthened know-your-customer checks for account holders and their representatives;
- New account categories, including holding accounts and trading accounts. Trading accounts will offer more flexibility to transfer allowances than holding accounts.
- Measures to respond quickly and effectively in case of fraud include:
- Completion of transfers of allowances between registry accounts will in general be delayed by 26 hours: the seller will be able to cancel a fraudulent transaction within the first 24 hours (in addition to which the registry administrator will have two hours to execute the cancellation);
- National administrators may freeze allowances and accounts in case of suspicion of fraud;
- Wider access to confidential information held in the Union Registry will be given to competent national authorities: Europol will get a permanent ready-only access to the database;
- Anti-money laundering provisions are further strengthened.
- Measures to avoid disruption to the market, if fraud were to occur, include:
- Allowances will be fully fungible, which means that an allowance can be substituted by any other allowance, if there were a legal claim;
- Buyers in good faith will acquire full entitlement to purchased allowances;
- Non-disclosure of the serial number of allowances;
- Non-display of the serial number of allowances: they will be visible only to registry administrators, which may provide them on request to the competent national authorities.
A good or a commodity is "fungible" when individual units can be substituted by any other unit of the same good or commodity, like a kilogram of sugar. The fungibility of allowances envisaged by the Regulation implies that the claim – for instance in case of theft, breach of contract or insolvency of the account holder – cannot be directed at a specific allowance. This rule does not exclude claiming back the same number of allowances or credits of the same kind or claiming damages, for example. Transactions in the Union Registry that became final are thus irrevocable and cannot be unwound.
No, the Regulation does not harmonise the ownership of allowances. However, apart from laying down that the allowances are fungible, it protects holders or buyers of allowances that are in good faith. Indeed, these persons will acquire full entitlement to the allowance. The interpretation of the term "good faith" is left to national law.
In early 2011, lists of serial numbers of allegedly stolen allowances were disclosed. That caused confusion in the carbon market, as in some jurisdictions stolen allowances identifiable through their serial numbers may have to be returned, which made trading riskier. To avoid such confusion in the future, the Regulation clearly prohibits the disclosure of the serial numbers of stolen allowances. Moreover, serial numbers of allowances are not visible to users in the Union Registry, only to registry administrators which may provide them on request to the competent national authorities. These measures are complemented by the fungibility of allowances and the protection of the buyer in good faith. Together this ensures that stolen allowances and the fraudsters involved can ultimately be tracked down for the purposes of a criminal or civil law procedure, but at the level of users trading is not disrupted.
In case of Kyoto units (e.g. Clean Development Mechanism credits), only the unique part of the unit identifier is not displayed: information on the unit type, project number, etc. will remain visible.
The Regulation ensures that the Union Registry can function seamlessly and independently of decisions taken on the Kyoto Protocol. Only Kyoto units, which can be used for compliance in the EU ETS can be held on ETS accounts in the Union Registry. Kyoto units which are not eligible in the ETS can be held on accounts in national KP registries.
The Regulation may have to be reviewed to reflect the outcome of the work on market oversight and in the light of the experience gained with the security measures.
Since 30 January 2012, aircraft operators can open accounts in the Union Registry. Account requests and all required supporting documentation shall be verified by the relevant national administrator. Aircraft operators with an open account can receive free allocation as determined by their administering Member State.
All aircraft operators covered by the EU ETS must open an account in the Union Registry. Based on a benchmark published by the Commission in September 2011, Member States calculate the number of allowances to be allocated for free to each aircraft operator in accordance with the rules set out in the EU ETS Directive. Aircraft operators with an open account received the first annual batch of free allowances credited on their registry account by 28 February 2012.
Aircraft operators covered by the EU ETS also must complete a number of steps in the registry to ensure that they comply with the EU ETS. These include:
- A requirement to enter verified emissions in the registry by 31 March of each year after 2012 (e.g., by 31 March 2013 they had to ensure that verified emissions for 2012 are entered in the Union registry)
- A requirement to surrender by 30 September of each year a sufficient number of aviation allowances, general allowances and/or international credits to cover their emissions from the previous year(s) (e.g., by 30 September 2024 they had to surrender units covering emissions from 2023).
As other account holders in the Registry, aircraft operators can transfer allowances and international credits to other participants in the EU ETS.
The ETS Directive does not allow the use of allowances from the second trading period for compliance in the third trading period. However, it ensures the banking of allowances from the second the third trading period, which took place in 2013.
The banking of allowances was carried out, as foreseen in article 57 of the Registries Regulation (No. 920/2010), through the deletion of phase 2 allowances and simultaneous creation of an equal amount of phase 3 allowances on the same registry accounts. The amendment of the Registry Regulation also aims to clarify the banking rules related to aviation allowances, such that 2012 aviation allowances are carried over to phase 3 without any change in their designation as aviation allowances.
No, the banking of emission allowances applies to all holdings of phase 2 allowances in users' accounts in the Union Registry.
The process of banking the emission allowances from the second trading period to the third was automatic and started on 1 July 2013. The process required the closure of the Union Registry for five consecutive working days. Access to the Union Registry was suspended as of 1 July and resumed on 8 July.
...steps as regards banking of emission allowances?
Article 57 of Regulation No 920/2010 provides for the banking of allowances from the second trading period to the third.
No, the Commission is not considering any changes related to the ability to bank allowances between phases. The possibility of banking of allowances is central to price formation and a long-term price signal to drive investment in less carbon-intensive capital stock and innovation.
The revised ETS Directive allows for CERs and ERUs to be exchanged into allowances up to the limit defined for the use of these units. The detailed modalities for this exchange are set out in the Registry Regulation. Exchanges of eligible credits up to the allowed limit were guaranteed until 31 March 2015.
The limit on the use of international credits pursuant to Article 11a(8) of the EU ETS Directive will be established by a separate Commission Regulation.
According to the Kyoto Protocol, Parties may choose to bank CERs and ERUs (process called carry-over in the Kyoto Protocol) up to a level equal to 2.5% of a Party's initial assigned amount for CERs and 2.5% for ERUs. This limit on carry-over under the Kyoto Protocol is a limit applied at the Party (i.e. Country) level. In other words, this is an entitlement given to Member States. The extent that this entitlement to carry-over is granted to private entities by a Member State is a matter for national consideration, subject to general principle of EU law on non-discrimination between entities based on nationality.
Each holding account and trading account may have a trusted account list. This list contains accounts specified by the account holder to which transfers can be executed trustfully.
Accounts held by the same account holder are included automatically on the trusted account list. The addition of other trusted accounts can be proposed by any authorised representative of the account holder.
As for transactions, a delay is applied between the approval and the execution of the request for an addition of an account to the trusted account list. The addition will be effective seven days after the proposal has been confirmed either by an additional authorised representative (or by another authorised representative if no additional authorised representative has been appointed).
- Union Registry Public Website (formerly European Union Transaction Log website)
