6th EU ETS Compliance Conference

The 6^th EU ETS Compliance Conference was particularly aimed at:

• interactive discussions and information exchange on concrete issues of monitoring, reporting, verification and accreditation (MRVA);
• capacity building and exchanging first experiences on inspections and enforcement of industrial installations and aircraft operators.

In an excellent opening key note address Constanze Haug of the International Carbon Action Partnership (ICAP) outlined the latest international developments on emissions trading and provided her assessment of the perspectives and expectations of the Paris conference on Climate Change. This was followed by a summary of the recommendations resulting from the audit of the European Court of Auditors concerning the integrity and implementation of EU ETS in Phase II, and by an introduction of the general findings from the 2014 Member State (MS) compliance review and analysis of Article 21 reports. The remainder of the first day morning programme was then broken down into the following two breakout sessions:

• Breakout session I on monitoring and reporting focused on further harmonisation of notifications of changes to the monitoring plan (MP), on how to assess unreasonable costs, and on increased awareness of simplified MP under Article 13 of Commission Regulation (EU) No 601/2012 (the MRR).
• Breakout session II focused on findings from the 2015 review of emissions reports and verification reports, on the types of improvement recommendations submitted by verifiers, and on the role of the verifier in the identification of changes in the capacity of an installation.

The afternoon programme started with three presentations on the latest developments in IT/E-Reporting and the DECLARE project in support of EU ETS compliance. This was followed by a presentation by the European cooperation for Accreditation on the mutual support and information exchange between national accreditation bodies and competent authorities, and subsequently by a demonstrated access and explanation of how to make better use of the Compliance Forum’s communication platform SharePoint to exchange information and best practices on MRVA issues. The afternoon programme concluded with further presentations on Commission projects 2015 and 2016, initial European Environment Agency (EEA) review of this year's Article 21 report submissions, and finally with three presentations on aspects of international MRV, the first on international cooperation on ETS, the second on discussions in ICAO for a global market based measure for aviation, and the third on MRV for shipping.

The second day of the conference started with a short overview of findings on inspection and enforcement from the 2014 MS compliance review and Article 21 reports as an introduction to Breakout sessions III and IV:

• In Breakout session III four presenters outlined inspection practices for EU ETS installations under their jurisdiction for interactive discussion. This was followed by a similar interactive discussion on new legislation introduced in one MS on enforcement of ETS, and an overview of how in a number of MS competent authorities deal with the operator’s improvement reports and with conservative estimation of emissions.
• In Breakout session IV three MS representatives outlined their approaches for inspecting annual emissions reports from aircraft operators or the aircraft operators themselves. This was followed by an overview from the Commission on the state of enforcement in Aviation ETS and the high rates of compliance, whilst a MS representative presented the enforcement issues and challenges of enforcement as seen from that MS's perspective.

After these two break-out sessions the Task Force managers presented the activities that the five Task Forces intend to take forward in 2016.

In closing this year’s Compliance Conference the two co-chairs summed up the key messages for participants to take home from the conference, encouraging the conference participants to participate more actively in the Compliance Forum and its Task Forces, and to make better use of SharePoint.

The full proceedings of the conference are presented below, including copy of the Compliance Forum Brochure and its advice on how Member State Competent Authorities can become more involved in Task Force activities and gain access to SharePoint if they do not already have it.

Proceedings

• Conference programme
• Keynote address by Constanze Haug, Head Secretariat of the International Carbon Action Programme (ICAP)
• Concluding key messages to take home
• EU ETS Compliance Forum Brochure

Day I Presentations – Morning Programme

Introductory presentations

• Summary of MRV compliance issues observed by European Court of Auditors
• General findings and compliance issues identified during the evaluation of the 2014 MS compliance reviews and Article 21 reports

Break-out Session 1: Monitoring and Reporting (M&R)

Discussion ofM&R issues raised by Member States including in relation to findings coming out of the MS compliance reviews and Article 21 reports

• Changes to the MP (real examples of significant and non-significant changes)
• How to assess unreasonable costs
• Use of standardised/simplified MPs (Article 13 MRR)

Break-out Session 2: Accreditation & Verification (A&V)

Discussion of A&V issues raised by Member States including in relation to findings coming out of the MS compliance reviews and Article 21 reports.

• Findings from reviews of 2015 emission report and verification report submissions
• Findings from assessing verifier recommendations
• Changes to installation capacity

Day I Presentations – Afternoon Programme

Latest developments on IT and E-reporting to support EU ETS compliance

• Benefits of automated systems in EU ETS
• Proposed improvements to XETL reporting language and impact of IT on MS
• Main features and functionalities of DECLARE as an electronic reporting tool

European cooperation for Accreditation

• Relevant developments and interface between CA and NAB

Communication between Compliance Forum participants

• How to use SharePoint to your benefit and for communication with other TF members

Commission projects in 2015/2016

• Projects in support of EU ETS MRV compliance

EU ETS Article 21 reporting 2015

• EEA initial assessment of this year's MS EU ETS Article 21 submissions

International developments on MRV

• International cooperation on ETS
• Latest developments within ICAO on market based measures (MBM)
• Regulation of CO2: MRV Shipping

Day II Presentations – Morning Programme

Evaluation of the 2014 MS compliance reviews and Article 21 reports

• Summary of the findings on inspection and enforcement

Break-out Session 3: Inspection & Enforcement of Installations

MS Approaches on inspection and enforcement (selection of installations, checklists and tools used, inspection on site, enforcement measures and follow-up)

• Inspection in the Flemish Region of Belgium
• Inspection in the Netherlands
• Inspection in Croatia
• Inspection in the Czech Republic
• Enforcement measures in Italy
• Follow-up measures in a number of MS on improvement reports and conservative estimation of emissions

Break-out Session 4: Inspection & Enforcement for Aircraft Operators (AOs)

MS approaches on inspections and enforcement measures and challenges

• Inspection of AO annual emission reports in Ireland
• Inspection and enforcement of AOs in the Netherlands
• Inspections of AOs in France
• Overview of enforcement and compliance in aviation ETS
• Options and challenges of enforcement in the UK

Task Force activities

Task Force proposals for activities in 2016

• Task Force Monitoring and Reporting (M&R)
• Task Force Accreditation and Verification (A&V)
• Task Force Aviation
• Task Force E-reporting
• Task Force Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

Location