Emission Trading System (EU ETS)

EU ETS Compliance: the Way Forward

10 - 11 September 2008 – Centre Borschette, Rue Froissart 36, Brussels, Belgium

Introduction

The European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS), established by EU Directive 2003/87/EC, started on 1 January 2005. In order for the EU-ETS to be successful in the long term, i.e. beyond 2013, it is important to both strengthen and harmonise the compliance chain of CO2 emissions trading. The compliance chain entails the permit application, the validation of the monitoring plan, implementation and execution of the monitoring plan, reporting of emissions in the annual emission report, verification of the emission data in the AER, inspections and if needed enforcement actions and sanctions.

This conference “EU ETS Compliance: the Way Forward” will be used as a tool to improve coherence, to harmonize the compliance chain among Member States and to open a communication channel with the policy-making process. The focus is on regional and, possibly, local levels, facilitating at the same time better participation from Competent Authorities and connecting compliance issues more directly with the policy making process.

Raising the profile of EU-ETS compliance will be fundamental in strengthening the credibility and transparency of the system. Member States and stakeholders need to trust that in the EU, a ton of CO2 emitted is always equivalent to a ton of CO2 monitored. This will be particularly important in linking to other non EU ET systems.

Objectives and deliverables of the Conference

The objectives of the conference are:

To bring Competent Authorities (CAs) and policymakers together to exchange experience and best practices and to learn from each other
To raise the profile of the compliance chain as the foundation for success in the EU-ETS.
To create among Member States and regional CA’s an awareness of, and commitment to, the degree of harmonisation of implementation needed to safeguard the environmental integrity of the EU-ETS
To bring together various stakeholders involved in the compliance chain, including verifiers, accreditation bodies, NGO’s and operators.

The ambition of the conference is to create the momentum for improving coherence and further harmonisation of EU-ETS compliance. Establishing the EU-ETS Compliance Forum (CF) is meant as a first step in this process. This should result in a substantial capacity building process that will ensure an overall more coherent compliance strategy at national and regional level.

The main deliverable of the Conference is a structured plan for the establishment, position, and working program of the Compliance Forum (CF)

Location

The first day of the conference is in the Albert Borschette Conference Building in Brussels and will consist primarily of expert discussion groups organized, in the form of workshops. The second day is mainly intended for political and strategic deliberation on the conclusions from day 1.

Target Audience

The conference organisation aims for an audience that includes people who have an interest in and are in a position to resolve Compliance Chain issues regarding emissions trading. The key audience consists of CAs (Competent Authorities) and policymakers (Ministries). Accreditation and verification bodies will also be represented. A number of representatives from industry and NGOs will be invited, as well as selected Commission officials.

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