Brussels, 14/09/2011 (Agence Europe) - Member states' experts, meeting in the EU climate change committee on Wednesday 14 September, formally endorsed two joint agreements between the European Commission and the member states on the rules for the award of public contracts on the transitional auction platform as part of the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS).
A further step has thus been taken in developing the practical arrangements for the early auction of 120 emissions allowances in the second half of 2012 (before the start of the third phase of the EU ETS), as provided for in a draft amendment to the revised ETS directive (2009/29/EC) currently on the European Parliament table.
These agreements, on which agreement was reached on 14 July (see EUROPE 10419), set out how the member states and the Commission will jointly conduct procurement procedures to appoint the common auction platform that will be used by 24 member states and a single auction regulator to monitor the auctions conducted on all auction platforms. Signature of the agreements, their entry into force and approval of the tender documents by member states will take some further time.
The European Commission hopes to launch calls for tenders on its own account and on behalf of the member states around the turn of the year. (A.N./transl.rt)