IP/07/136
Brussels, 5 February 2007
Emissions trading: Commission approves Slovenia's national allocation plan for 2008-2012
The European Commission today approved Slovenia's 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 total number of emission allowances proposed by Slovenia – equivalent to 8.3 million tonnes of CO2 – since it is consistent with Slovenia's commitment under the Kyoto Protocol, its expected emissions and its potential to reduce emissions. It is also lower than the verified emissions of Slovenia in 2005. The approval is conditional on Slovenia making changes to two aspects of its plan. The ETS ensures that greenhouse gas emissions from energy and industry sectors 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: "Slovenia has proposed a sound national allocation plan which we have accepted with few changes. The Slovenian government has clearly understood the need to ensure that the Emissions Trading Scheme remains a successful weapon for fighting climate change that others can emulate. The Commission will continue to assess all national plans in a consistent way and to create the scarcity in allowances that is essential for the scheme's success and for meeting Europe's Kyoto targets."
Assessment of the NAPs
Following the Commission's decisions in November 2006 and January 2007 (see IP/06/1650 and IP/07/51), Slovenia's is the 13th 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.[1] 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. Slovenia's plan is acceptable on all three counts.
Other assessment criteria relate to non-discrimination, EU competition and state aid rules, and technical aspects. In this regard, the Commission is requiring changes to Slovenia's plan on the grounds that:
- More information needs to be provided on how it will treat new entrants to the emissions trading scheme
- The proposed extent of companies' use of credits from emission-reduction projects carried out in third countries under the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms[2] is not consistent with the rule that these mechanisms should be used to supplement domestic action on emissions. Consequently Slovenia is required to limit the use of these credits to 15.7% of its total allocation.
The Commission's approval of the plan will become automatic once Slovenia has made these changes.
See also :
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/emission.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/climat/2nd_phase_ep.htm
Summary information on the 13 plans assessed to date:
Approved allowances for 2005-2007, verified emissions in 2005, proposed caps for 2008-2012 and approved caps for 2008-2012
|
Member State
|
1st period cap
|
2005 verified emissions
|
Proposed cap 2008-2012
|
Cap allowed 2008-2012
|
|
Belgium[3]
|
62.08
|
55.58[4]
|
63.33
|
58.5
|
|
Germany[5]
|
499
|
474
|
482
|
453.1
|
|
Greece
|
74.4
|
71.3
|
75.5
|
69.1
|
|
Ireland
|
22.3
|
22.4
|
22.6
|
21.15
|
|
Latvia
|
4.6
|
2.9
|
7.7
|
3.3
|
|
Lithuania[6]
|
12.3
|
6.6
|
16.6
|
8.8
|
|
Luxembourg
|
3.4
|
2.6
|
3.95
|
2.7
|
|
Malta
|
2.9
|
1.98
|
2.96
|
2.1
|
|
Netherlands[7]
|
95.3
|
80.35
|
90.4
|
85.8
|
|
Slovakia[8]
|
30.5
|
25.2
|
41.3
|
30.9
|
|
Slovenia
|
8.8
|
8.7
|
8.3
|
8.3
|
|
Sweden[9]
|
22.9
|
19.3
|
25.2
|
22.8
|
|
UK[10]
|
245.3
|
242.4[11]
|
246.2
|
246.2
|
[1]. Directive 2003/87/EC, as amended by Directive 2004/101/EC.
[2] These mechanisms are known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), for projects carried out in developing countries, and Joint Implementation, for projects carried out in developed countries or economies in transition.
