Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “I am very glad that the Greek national allocation plan has been approved. With this approval, the emissions trading system is complete and we are looking forward to active spot market trading involving all Member States, which can begin once all national registries have been put into place. “
The Greek allocation plan
The Greek allocation plan covers 141 installations, and all installations qualify for trading. They will be allocated 223.3 million allowances (covering 223.3 million tonnes of CO2) for the 2005-2007 trading period. The Commission approved the Greek plan following a commitment by Greece to remove a so-called ex-post adjustment. The plan is now in line with the conditions set out in the Emissions Trading Directive[1].
2005-2007 NAP assessment completed
The Commission’s NAP crunch began some 14 months ago with Member States submitting the first national allocation plans in March 2004, and it ended today with the Decision on the Greek plan. Commissioner Dimas said: “Our discussions with Member States were facilitated by the fact that all parties trusted that we would assess the plans consistently. There has also been great willingness on all sides to make the EU emissions trading scheme a success.”
In total, the Commission has approved the allocation of about 6,57 billion allowances to a bit more than 11,400 installations for the trading period 2005 to 2007 (see attached table). It has demanded cuts in the number of allowances to be allocated in 14 of the 25 plans.
These cuts total over 290 million allowances, or about 4% of the notified number of allowances. In addition, the Commission has disallowed intended ex-post adjustments in 13 plans.
Closing the allocation cycle
Allocating approved allowances to companies via their issuance into an electronic registry account at national level is the final step of the allocation cycle. So far nine Member States have reached this stage, and about 50% of the allowances approved are already in circulation. Sixteen Member States still work on finalising technicalities necessary to launch the national registry and/or revise their allocation plans following demands by the Commission to cut the number of allowances.
Background
National allocation plans show how many CO2 emission allowances Member States plan to allocate for the 2005-2007 trading period, and how many each plant will receive. The Commission's task is to scrutinise the plans against eleven allocation criteria. Criteria comprise consistency with the country's overall strategy to reach its Kyoto target and emissions developments, non-discrimination, respect for EU competition and state aid rules, and certain technical aspects. The Commission may accept a plan in part or in full. The Commission has now concluded its assessment of all 25 Member States’ plans.
For previous assessments and emissions trading, see:
IP/04/862, IP/04/1250, IP/05/9 and IP/05/269 as well as updated MEMO/05/84
More information on climate change policy is available at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/emission.htm,
and on national allocation plans at:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/climat/emission_plans.htm
Summary
information per Member State for the 2005-2007 trading period (indicative table
based on national allocation plans approved by the European Commission)
|
Member State
|
CO2 allowances in mio. tonnes
|
Share in EU allowances
|
Installations covered
|
Registry functional
|
Kyoto target
|
|
Austria
|
99.0
|
1.5 %
|
205
|
Yes
|
-13%*
|
|
Belgium
|
188.8
|
2.9 %
|
363
|
No
|
-7.5%*
|
|
Czech Republic
|
292.8
|
4.4 %
|
435
|
No
|
-8%
|
|
Cyprus
|
16.98
|
0.3 %
|
13
|
No
|
-
|
|
Denmark
|
100.5
|
1.5 %
|
378
|
Yes
|
-21%*
|
|
Estonia
|
56.85
|
0.9 %
|
43
|
No
|
-8%
|
|
Finland
|
136.5
|
2.1 %
|
535
|
Yes
|
0%*
|
|
France
|
469.5
|
7.1 %
|
1,172
|
Yes
|
0%*
|
|
Germany
|
1,497.0
|
22.8 %
|
1,849
|
Yes
|
-21%*
|
|
Greece
|
223.2
|
3.4 %
|
141
|
No
|
+25%
|
|
Hungary
|
93.8
|
1.4 %
|
261
|
No
|
-6%
|
|
Ireland
|
67.0
|
1.0 %
|
143
|
No
|
+13%*
|
|
Italy
|
697.5
|
10.6 %
|
1,240
|
No
|
-6.5%
|
|
Latvia
|
13.7
|
0.2 %
|
95
|
No
|
-8%
|
|
Lithuania
|
36.8
|
0.6 %
|
93
|
No
|
-8%
|
|
Luxembourg
|
10.07
|
0.2 %
|
19
|
No
|
-28%*
|
|
Malta
|
8.83
|
0.1 %
|
2
|
No
|
-
|
|
Netherlands
|
285.9
|
4.3 %
|
333
|
Yes
|
-6%*
|
|
Poland
|
717.3
|
10.9 %
|
1,166
|
No
|
-6%
|
|
Portugal
|
114.5
|
1.7 %
|
239
|
No
|
+27%*
|
|
Slovak Republic
|
91.5
|
1.4 %
|
209
|
No
|
-8%
|
|
Slovenia
|
26.3
|
0.4 %
|
98
|
No
|
-8%
|
|
Spain
|
523.3
|
8.0 %
|
819
|
Yes
|
+15%
|
|
Sweden
|
68.7
|
1.1 %
|
499
|
Yes
|
+4%*
|
|
United Kingdom
|
736.0
|
11.2 %
|
1,078
|
Yes
|
-12.5%*
|
|
Total
|
6,572.4
|
100.0 %
|
11,428
|
|
|
Note: Figures do not take into account any opt-ins and opt-outs of
installations in accordance with Article 24 and 27 of Directive 2003/87/EC.
*
Under the Kyoto Protocol, the EU15 has to reduce its collective greenhouse gas
emissions by 8% below 1990 levels during 2008-2012. This target is shared among
the 15 Member States under a legally binding burden-sharing agreement (Council
Decision 2002/358/EC of 25 April 2002). The majority of the Member States that
joined the EU on 1 May 2004 have individual targets under the Kyoto Protocol
with the exception of Cyprus and Malta, which have no targets.
[1] Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community, published in the Official Journal L 275, 25 October 2003, p.32.
