Increasing the ambition of the EU’s Effort Sharing Regulation

The EU’s current Effort Sharing Regulation (EU) 2018/842 establishes binding annual greenhouse gas emission targets for Member States for the period 2021–2030. The Effort Sharing Decision ( No 406/2009/EC) already established binding targets for the period 2013-2020.

These targets concern emissions from sectors not currently included in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), such as transport, buildings, agriculture and waste.

As part of the Fit for 55 legislative package, the European Commission is proposing a series of amendments to the Effort Sharing Regulation in line with the EU more ambitious target of achieving net emission reductions of at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels.

• Increase the EU-wide emission reduction target for the Effort Sharing sectors from the current 29% to 40% by 2030, compared to 2005
• Set more ambitious national targets for Member States on a fair and cost-efficient basis
• Update flexibility mechanisms to allow Member States to attain their Effort Sharing targets in a cost-efficient manner
• Contribute to the European Green Deal objective of EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050

The Commission proposal increases the emission reduction targets under the Effort Sharing Regulation to achieve at least 40% emission reductions compared to 2005 levels.

The proposal maintains the existing architecture of the Regulation.

The proposal includes limited adjustments in the way Member States can use existing flexibilities to meet their targets. In addition, the Commission proposes to establish an additional reserve to help Member States comply with their more ambitious Effort Sharing targets.

Overall, the updated targets result in a further convergence of Member States’ emissions per capita in 2030 compared to the current targets.

In November 2020, the Commission launched a public consultation inviting stakeholders and citizens to submit their views on the revision of the Effort Sharing Regulation.

The 45678 stakeholder contributions were summarised and informed the development of the proposals.

For more information on the stakeholder process, visit the Better Regulation portal.

The legislative proposals will be transmitted to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions for further consideration under the ordinary legislative procedure.

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