Further delays over ETS auctioning rules expected

Ongoing disagreements within the European Commission over proposals on the auctioning of carbon allowances from 2013 will most likely lead to further delays in their eventual adoption. The rules, which are scheduled for adoption by June 2010, have caused concern in certain DGs. DG Enterprise, for example, feels that DG Environment, which is leading the work developing the new auctioning rules, has neglected the views of other Commission services and DG Enterprise has complained of insufficient consultation.

The expected Commission Regulation has already been delayed due to Member State concerns (see February 2010 Eurobrief). A blocking minority consisting of the UK, Germany, Poland and Spain is still opposed to a single, centralised auctioning platform.

The Commission’s presentation on the draft auctioning proposal can be found here:
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission/pdf/28oct_draft_outline_reg.pdf

Directive 2009/29/EC on extending the EU ETSⁱ can be found here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:140:0063:0087:EN:PDF