As the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union attempt to agree on the revision of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) and the creation of a ‘Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism’ (CBAM), a coalition of 22 NGOs, think tanks and industry organisations sent them a joint letter on Monday 7 November urging them to end free carbon allowances “as soon as possible”.
These organisations want CBAM to be fully operational from 2026. At the same time, free allowances under the ETS should be reduced by 10% per year between 2026 and 2030 and completely abolished by 2032 at the latest, the letter says.
This would be a significant acceleration of the EU Council’s position of a complete abolition of these quotas in 2036 (see EUROPE 12911/14). The Parliament, for its part, is also championing 2032, but at a different pace (see EUROPE 12977/12).
The letter also calls on EU co-legislators to make free allowances conditional on energy efficiency requirements and decarbonisation plans, and to review the definition and scope of the benchmarks. These values are used to determine the quantity of free allowances for each industry covered by the ETS.
The next inter-institutional negotiation sessions (‘trilogues’) on CBAM and the ETS will take place on 8 and 10 November respectively.
See the letter: https://aeur.eu/f/3xg (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)