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Climate Action
News article30 November 2017Directorate-General for Climate Action

Climate Change Committee approves safeguard measures for EU Emissions Trading System

EU Member States represented in the Climate Change Committee today endorsed an amendment to the EU ETS Registry Regulation to implement safeguard measures to protect the environmental integrity of the EU ETS when Union law ceases to apply in the...

EU ETS

EU Member States represented in the Climate Change Committee today endorsed an amendment to the EU ETS Registry Regulation to implement safeguard measures to protect the environmental integrity of the EU ETS when Union law ceases to apply in the United Kingdom due to its withdrawal from the European Union.

The measures provide for marking and restricting the use of allowances issued by the United Kingdom as of 1 January 2018, unless Union law would not cease to apply in the United Kingdom by 30 April 2019 or it is sufficiently ensured that the surrender of allowances takes place in a legally enforceable manner by no later than 15 March 2019.

The United Kingdom informed the Committee of its intention to adopt a law by the end of 2017 by which the compliance deadline for 2018 emissions would be advanced to before the date of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU and in accordance with the amendment to the EU ETS Registry Regulation. Should that be confirmed allowances issued by the United Kingdom for 2018 would not be marked and would be accepted for surrender.

Further information on the implementation of the measures will be published in due time on the website of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Climate Action.

It is important to underline that the proposed safeguard measures are without prejudice to any future agreement in the context of the negotiations with the United Kingdom pursuant to Article 50 of the Treaty.

The Commission will now submit the draft Regulation amending the Registry Regulation to the European Parliament and the Council for scrutiny. As soon as both institutions confirm that they raise no objections, the Commission will then adopt and publish the Regulation, after which it will directly enter into force.

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Details

Publication date
30 November 2017
Author
Directorate-General for Climate Action