On Tuesday 27 February, the Council of the EU formally approved the reform of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) for the period after 2020. This is the main EU market instrument for reducing greenhouse gas emissions at low-cost and implementing the Paris Climate Agreement.
This reform was first initiated in July 2015 as a means of increasing carbon prices on the market and allowing the ETS to act as an incentive for investment in low carbon technologies and renewable energies. It should help make the ETS become more predictable, targeted and efficient over the 2021-30 period by maintaining European industrial competitiveness.
The directive amending the ETS directive (2003/87/EC), as adopted, is the result of a bitterly negotiated compromise during the trialogue (Parliament/Council/Commission), which, in November 2017, under the Estonian Presidency of the Council, produced a compromise guaranteeing a balance between the need to absorb some of the excess CO2 allowances on the market and the necessity of protecting heavy industry and preventing the risk of carbon leakage (see EUROPE 11955, 11914).
The Bulgarian Minister for the Environment and Water and currently Acting President of the Environment Council, Neno Dimov, stated, "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions will not only contribute to the fight against climate change but it will also positively impact the improvement of the air quality”. He also provided assurances that the Bulgarian Presidency, “will work towards retaining the EU's leading role in the negotiations on the conclusion of the implementation rules of the Paris Agreement” during the COP 24 (see EUROPE 11947). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)