05 December 2022

COUNCIL AND PARLIAMENT AGREE ON THE INCLUSION OF MARITIME EMISSIONS IN EU ETS

Last week, the European Parliament and the Council reached a tentative agreement on the inclusion of maritime emissions in the EU ETS.

The legislators have retained the scope of the Commission proposal, covering ships of 5000 GT and over. The scope should be reviewed by the Commission in the coming years to ensure companies do not use ships just below the threshold to circumvent the rules. The ETS will account all emissions from intra-EU journeys, and 50% of emissions of journeys from/to EU ports from/to third countries. The institutions also tentatively agreed on a 3-year phase-in period, with shipping companies surrendering allowances that cover 40% of their emissions in 2024, 70% in 2025 and 100% in 2026.

The negotiating teams agreed to extend the scope of the ETS to other greenhouse gases than CO2, such as nitrous oxide and methane. On the use of revenues, the institutions agreed to earmark 20 million allowances for specific projects in the shipping sector in the Innovation Fund/Climate Investment Fund. The agreed text also encourages Member States to use national revenues to protect marine biodiversity.

The negotiating teams will meet again in trilogue for a final time on 16-17 December, to confirm the tentative agreement on shipping. MEP Peter Liese (EPP, Germany), EP’s Rapporteur on ETS said: “The agreement is important for the environment and for air quality as well as for the innovation in the sector. But it is also an important step to enable us to agree on the other very difficult points of the negotiations, for example free allowances for the industry, the Innovation Fund, the modernisation fund and the inclusion of heating and road transport in the scheme.

Source: Peter Liese’s website