The revised EU ETS Directive recognises that the competitive situation, and thus the risk of carbon leakage, may change in case there is an international climate change agreement. Therefore, its Article 10b stipulates that:
"By 30 June 2010, the Commission shall, in the light of the outcome of the international negotiations and the extent to which these lead to global greenhouse gas emission reductions, and after consulting with all relevant social partners, submit to the European Parliament and to the Council an analytical report assessing the situation with regard to energy-intensive sectors or sub-sectors that have been determined to be exposed to significant risks of carbon leakage. This shall be accompanied by any appropriate proposals."
The Commission first consulted the stakeholders on the analytical report and its preliminary conclusions at an ad-hoc meeting of the European Climate Change Programme (ECCP) working group on emissions trading on 17 March 2010. Following the meeting, the Commission sent the stakeholders a set of consultation questions, inviting them to comment on this issue and on related issues, in order to allow all relevant stakeholders, including EU industry associations, trade unions, environmental NGOs and Member States, to effectively contribute to the report. Responses from stakeholders others than those directly invited to provide comments were taken into consideration as well. |
