On Monday 11 May, the European Commission put out to consultation a draft delegated act aimed at updating, for the period 2026-2030, the ‘benchmark’ values used to calculate the number of free greenhouse gas emission allowances for the industrial sectors covered by the ETS (steel, paper, chemicals, etc.).
With the benchmark values proposed using the flexibility permitted by European legislation, the industries concerned will, on average, continue to benefit from a free allocation covering around 75% of their emissions, the EU institution said in a press release.
To encourage industrial electrification, the Commission’s updated approach maintains the inclusion of indirect emissions linked to electricity consumption in 14 benchmarks. This translates into higher benchmark values, with a financial impact of around “€4 billion for the period 2026-2030”, notes the EU institution.
The future delegated act, which is required to allow the allocation of free emission allowances, will be adopted by the end of June. It supplements the legislative proposal which removes the invalidation of certain carbon allowances in the carbon market stability reserve (see EUROPE 13841/1).
Between now and July, the Commission will propose a new reform of the ETS, introducing alternative ‘fallback benchmarks’ specific to certain sectors of activity. It would then be empowered to develop a methodology for defining new values for these alternative benchmarks.
See the proposal for a delegated act submitted for consultation until Monday 8 June: https://aeur.eu/f/lv1 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)