Eurobrief June 2010

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Member States unlikely to vote on benchmarks before the summer The European Commission is unlikely to reveal the draft benchmarks for the allocation of free carbon allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) before the summer.

ENVIRONMENT UNEP prepares a global legally binding instrument on mercury The first meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme - UNEP Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC1) – was convened with the mandate to elaborate a legally binding instrument on mercury.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Report disputes Commission figures on emissions reduction A recently published Deutsche Bank report disagrees with the European Commission’s analysis relating to greenhouse gas emission reduction targets on certain key points.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS Cooling and refrigeration emissions to increase, says study Emissions from the air conditioning and refrigeration sector will increase by over a quarter by 2020 relative to 2005 levels, claims a study carried out on behalf of the European Commission.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Decision on CCS demonstration projects to be published in the Official Journal A Commission Decision on laying down criteria and measures for the financing of commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage of CO2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies should be published in the EU’s Official Journal shortly.

HEALTH AND SAFETY REACH enforcement project finds quarter of companies 'non-compliant' Nearly a quarter of companies surveyed have been found not to be fully compliant with pre-registration requirements under the REACH chemicals regulation. Most non-compliance cases related to minor errors made during chemicals pre-registration or in the preparation of safety data sheets.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Commission adopts guidelines on CCS emissions monitoring The European Commission has adopted a Decision on the provision of guidelines for monitoring and reporting emissions from the capture, transport and geological storage of carbon dioxide.

HEALTH AND SAFETY ECHA announces six month moratorium on publication of guidance documents The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) announced a six-month moratorium on the publication of ten guidance documents earlier this month.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME EEA report questions Commission position on emission reduction figures Increased use of renewables and the economic downturn have contributed to emission reductions, according to new European Environment Agency (EEA) figures.

WASTE MEPs back new legislation tackle biowaste The European Parliament’s Environment Committee has called for a Directive on biowaste with mandatory separate collection.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Growing pressure to allow Member States to set energy efficiency targets There is growing pressure within the European Council to allow Member States to choose how to set their own energy efficiency targets.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU participates in European Minerals Conference The European Minerals Conference, hosted by the Spanish Presidency in Madrid on June 16-18, 2010, managed to gather the key players of the European Commission dealing with the Raw Materials Initiative, and counted on the presence of the European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani, responsible for Industry and Entrepreneurship, who closed the event.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Member States scheduled to vote on EU ETS auctioning in July A Regulation on the timing, administration and other aspects of auctioning of greenhouse gas emission allowances, due for completion according to the EU ETS Directive by the end of June 2010, will not be finalised until autumn 2010.

CEMBUREAU European Minerals Day partners answer questions at Green Week The European Minerals Day Partners were present at Green Week to answer questions related to their successful pan-European Open Day event, and to encourage citizens to take part in the next event in 2011.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Airline concern over entry into the ETS The airline industry is concerned that the allocation of permits under the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will lead to significant trade distortion.

OTHER NEWS Debate held on future of standardisation At the end of June a debate was held in the European Parliament regarding the future of standardisation. An ANEC proposal was underlined both by the rapporteur and the Commission: to create a second production line for standards in fields where there is high public interest.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries publishes position papers on ETS issues A Position Paper of the Alliance of Energy Intensive Industries covering the treatment of new entrants to the EU ETS was published in June.

ENVIRONMENT Deal reached on the Industrial Emissions Directive European Parliament and Member State negotiators reached an agreement on the revision of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive (IPPC) on Friday, 18 June.

ENVIRONMENT Cement and Lime BREF published in Official Journal On 25 June 2010 the reference document on best available techniques for the Cement, Lime and Magnesium Oxide Manufacturing Industries was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

ENVIRONMENT Ecodesign study application to kilns On 24 June, CEMBUREAU participated in a stakeholders meeting aimed at reviewing the first draft of a report commissioned by DG Enterprise and carried out by Cobham and Bio Intelligence service entitled “Sustainable Industrial Policy – Building on the Eco-design Directive – Energy-Using Products Group Analysis Lot 4: Industrial and Laboratory Furnaces and Ovens - Tasks 1 – 3”.

ENVIRONMENT Commission distances itself from introducing new biodiversity rules The head of the Commission’s DG Environment, Karl Falkenberg, told a conference during Green Week that the EU did not need new directives on biodiversity.

ENVIRONMENT Decoupling growth from resource use a priority, says Environment Commissioner Environment Commissioner Janez Potoènik told an audience at Green Week that Europe would have to tackle the issue of decoupling growth from resource use.

ENVIRONMENT Proposal to review energy products taxation Directive postponed until Autumn 2010 The proposal to review the energy products taxation Directive has been postponed to the autumn 2010. The proposal would review Directive 2003/96/EC to introduce a minimum harmonised tax on energy products based on their CO2 emissions and additional taxes based on the energy content.

ENVIRONMENT UN climate change talks end in Bonn UN climate change talks in Bonn took place from 31 May to 9 June 2010, with the final outcome to be presented at the UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún (COP 16) at the end of this year.