Eurobrief July

In July 2011, CEMBUREAU submitted comments to the European Commission’s draft guidance document n°7 (issued on 20 July 2011) on the harmonised free allocation methodology for the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).

On 18 July 2011, the European Commission published a set of question and answers relating to the harmonised free allocation methodology for the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) post 2012.

On 8 July 2011, the European Commission published a series of question and answers on the registry rules of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS). The revised ETS Directive (2009/29/EC), adopted in 2009, provides for the centralisation of the EU ETS operations into a single European Union registry which will replace all national EU ETS registries.

On 13 July 2011 Member States, via the EU’s Climate Change Committee, adopted the European Commission’s Draft regulation (amending the EU Emissions Trading Scheme Auctioning Regulation - No 1031/2010) to determine the volume of greenhouse gasemission allowances to be auctioned prior to 2013.

On 8 July 2011 the Polish government filed a lawsuit against the European Commission, asking the European Court of Justice to annul the rules for the allocation of permits over 2013-2020.

Between 2005 and 2010 the European cement industry has cut its specific CO2 emissions by an average of 23% per installation, compared to an average 8% cut in the overall EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS).

In July 2011, the Parties to MARPOL Annex VI represented in the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) adopted mandatory measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping.

According to a report recently published by the Hungarian-based Regional Centre for Energy Policy Research, Hungary would benefit from cutting CO2 emissions by 30%, on an overall economy level.

A study published by think tank Bruegel in July 2011 suggests that the move from the first phase (2005-2007) of the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) to the second phase (2008-2012) had an impact on the emission reductions carried out by firms.

US House Transportation and Infrastructure chairman John Mica has introduced the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) Prohibition Act of 2011.