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Climate Action
News article5 August 2020Directorate-General for Climate Action

2020 calendar for transfers of allowances between the EU and Swiss emission trading registries

The Joint Committee under the EU and Swiss Linking Agreement today agreed on the 2020 calendar for the transfers of emission allowances between the registries of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Emission Trading System of Switzerland.

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The Joint Committee under the EU and Swiss Linking Agreement today agreed on the 2020 calendar for the transfers of emission allowances between the registries of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Emission Trading System of Switzerland.

Following the entry into force of the Agreement between the EU and Switzerland on the linking of their Emission Trading Systems on 1 January 2020, the emission allowances of the Emission Trading System of Switzerland became valid for compliance purposes in the EU Emissions Trading System and vice versa. In order to enable the transfer of emission allowances between the two systems, it is necessary to establish an electronic link between the EU and Swiss emissions trading registries. In its Decision 2/2019, the Joint Committee under the Linking Agreement decided to implement a provisional solution for the transfer of allowances between the registries. The launch of the provisional solution is expected in September 2020.

Since the registries are still not connected by a permanent direct link, through this provisional solution transfers to the other system (registry) will be performed on certain predefined dates. In order for the market to take into account the possible delay between the initiation and execution of transactions, the Joint Committee adopted the calendar for the transfers of allowances between the registries of the EU and the Swiss Emissions Trading Systems.

In the period from September to December 2020, the provisional solution for the transfer of allowances between the Swiss and EU registries will be applied ten times. Transfers will generally take place twice a month, except for i) September (see below) and ii) the transfers ahead of the delivery date of the December EUA futures contracts in mid-December, for which transfers will be executed twice a week.

Since the link between the registries will be operational as from 21 September 2020, the present calendar only covers the period from September to December 2020. Generally, the calendars should cover a period of 12 months, starting from January and ending in December. In order to ensure sufficient predictability for the market, the dates of all transfers will be published at least one month in advance. Therefore, the calendar covering the entirety of 2021 will be published at the end of November 2020. Any changes to the calendar will also be published at least one month in advance, notwithstanding short-term notices on changes due to unforeseen temporary closures of the registry link (e.g. force majeure, technical and/or security issues)

From 21 September 2020 onwards, transactions of allowances between both systems can be initiated. The transactions will then be executed on the next date indicated in the table below in accordance with the rules applicable in the registry where the request is launched, e.g. only after the transaction delay of the respective registry (26 hours in the Union registry, 24 hours in the registry of the ETS of Switzerland).

 

Dates for the execution of transfers between the registries in 2020

28.09.

05.10.

19.10.

02.11.

16.11.

30.11.

07.12.

16.12.

17.12.

21.12.

 

Details

Publication date
5 August 2020
Author
Directorate-General for Climate Action