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IP/07/1131 Brussels, 18 July 2007 Emissions trading: Commission adopts decision on Cyprus' national allocation plan for 2008-2012The European Commission today concluded the assessment of Cyprus' national plan for allocating carbon dioxide (CO2) emission allowances for the 2008-2012 trading period of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The Commission accepted the plan on condition that certain changes are made, including a reduction in the total number of emission allowances proposed. The cleared annual allocation is 5.48 million tonnes of CO2 allowances, 23% less than Cyprus had proposed. The Emissions Trading Scheme ensures that greenhouse gas emissions from the energy and industry sectors covered are cut at least cost to the economy, thus helping the EU and its Member States to meet their emission commitments under the Kyoto Protocol.Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: "Today’s decision brings
us one step closer to finishing the assessment of Member States' CO2 allocation
plans. There are four more plans to be assessed. These will be finalised swiftly
after the summer break to ensure an orderly transition to the second phase of
the EU ETS when it begins in 2008.” Following the Commission's decisions in November 2006, January 2007, February 2007, March, April, May and June 2007 (IP/06/1650, IP/07/51, IP/07/136, IP/07/247, IP/07/412, IP/07/415, IP/07/459, IP/07/501, IP/07/613, IP/07/667 and IP/07/749), Cyprus' is the 23rd national allocation plan (NAP) for the 2008-2012 period to be assessed by the Commission. NAPs determine for each Member State the 'cap,' or limit, on the total amount of CO2 that installations covered by the EU ETS can emit, and specify how many CO2 emission allowances each plant will receive. The Commission is responsible for assessing Member States' proposed NAPs against 12 allocation criteria listed in the Emissions Trading Directive. The Commission may accept a plan in part or in full. The assessment criteria seek, among other things, to ensure that plans are consistent (a) with meeting the EU's and Member States' Kyoto commitments, (b) with actual verified emissions reported in the Commission's annual progress reports, and (c) with technological potential for reducing emissions. In this context, the Commission is requiring Cyprus to reduce its proposed cap by 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, to 5.48 million tonnes. Other assessment criteria relate to non-discrimination, EU competition and state aid rules, and technical aspects. In this regard, the Commission is requiring further changes to Cyprus' plan concerning the following issues:
The Commission's
approval of the plan will become automatic once Cyprus has made the appropriate
changes. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission.htm http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/2nd_phase_ep.htm Approved allowances for 2005-2007, verified emissions in 2005, proposed caps for 2008-2012, approved caps for 2008-2012, additional emissions covered in 2008 to 2012 and limit on the use of credits from emission-saving projects in third countries.
[1] The figures indicated
in this column comprise emissions in installations that come under the coverage
of the scheme in 2008 to 2012 due to an extended scope applied by the Member
State and do not include new installations entering the scheme in sectors
already covered in the first trading period.
[2] The JI/CDM limit is
expressed as a percentage of the member state’s cap and indicates the
maximum extent to which companies may surrender JI or CDM credits instead of EU
ETS allowances to cover their emissions. These credits are generated by
emission-saving projects carried out in third countries under the Kyoto
Protocol’s project-based flexible mechanisms, known as Joint
Implementation (JI) and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).
[3] Including
installations which Belgium opted to exclude temporarily from the scheme in
2005
[4] Italy has to include
further installations. The amount of additional emissions is not known at this
stage.
[5] Additional
installations and emissions of over 6 million tonnes are already included as of
2006.
[6] Verified emissions for 2005
do not include installations which the UK opted to exclude temporarily from the
scheme in 2005 but which will be covered in 2008 to 2012 and are estimated to
amount to some 30 Mt.
[7] The sum of verified
emissions for 2005 does not include installations which the UK opted to exclude
temporarily from the scheme in 2005 but which will be covered in 2008 to 2012
and are estimated to amount to some 30 Mt.
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