The Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU and European Parliament will have little room for manoeuvre in the inter-institutional negotiations in Strasbourg on 13 December on the draft regulation establishing effort sharing among the member states in sectors not covered by the greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme (ETS) and the following day, 14 December, on the separate so-called Lulucf draft regulation on the contribution to be made agriculture and forestry to tackling climate change (see EUROPE 11912).
Nonetheless, political will to reach a conclusion is there. The Estonian Presidency now has an updated negotiating mandate on the non-ETS effort sharing regulation and, it says, a “strong mandate” on the Lulucf regulation was granted to it by the member states’ ambassadors to the EU (Coreper) on Friday 8 December.
Non-ETS effort sharing. The safety reserve and the starting point for the emissions reduction trajectory so that member states reach their national objectives will be thoroughly discussed at the trialogue meeting on 13 December. The Council had such difficulty in reaching agreement on the safety reserve that it does not wish any changes to it. As a gesture, the ambassadors agreed to leave the text open on the starting point. So, while the Council indicated 2020, Coreper decided not to give a precise date so as to allow discussion with Parliament.
On the other hand, while Parliament wants to limit banking of surplus quotas during the 2021-2030 period, the member states are unwilling to agree to this.
Lulucf regulation. There is still strong support from both Parliament and Council for no change to be made to the “no-debit rule” between emissions and absorption of emissions, which forms the core and basic principle of the new EU regulation.
On 14 December, however, negotiators will discuss the forestry reference level. The Council still wants the historic reference to be 2000 to 2009 (the Commission proposed 1990 to 2009, taking account of the specific circumstances of the countries).
With regard to the offset mechanism equating to 360 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent over 10 years (or 10% of the average annual EU carbon sink over the whole period) that all member states could make use of so long as their forests continue to act as a carbon sink, the Council has changed nothing in its position and hopes not have to make any changes given the difficulty is experienced in reaching a political agreement (general approach). It remains to be seen whether Parliament will be prepared to accept this additional degree of flexibility as it stands. Similarly, the Council feels that it will be difficult to amend the additional offset of 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent granted to Finland over the 2021-2030 period (see EUROPE 11884).
Taking account of wetlands, which Parliament wants to see made into an accounting rule, will also be on the trialogue agenda. The Council of the EU wants to have sufficient information for discussions to take place.
“The positions are not fundamentally different but the forestry reference level will play a significant role” on the overall balance of the text, a source close to the matter said on Monday.
If an inter-institutional agreement is reached by these two complementary regulations, Coreper will be informed of the outcome on 15 December, enabling it carry out a final analysis of the text before it is put to the Coreper meeting on 20 December for final agreement.
The Environment Council, initially scheduled for 19 December, has been cancelled as the Estonian Presidency has so much work to do to conclude a large number of trialogues before the end of its term in office – including the one on the waste directives of the circular economy package on Sunday 17 December. Technical meetings are continuing. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)