Brussels, 04/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 4 June, the European Commission completed its assessment of Finland's national plan for allocating (NAP) carbon dioxide (CO2) emission allowances for the 2008-2012 trading period. NAPs determine each member state's “cap”, or limit, on the total amount of CO2 that installations covered by the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) can emit, and specify how many CO2 emission allowances each plant will receive. The Commission accepted Finland's national plan on condition that certain changes are made, including a reduction in the total number of emission allowances proposed. The accepted annual allocation is 37.6 million tonnes of CO2 allowances, 5.2 % less than Finland proposed. Finland's is the twenty second national allocation plan for the trading period 2008-2012 to be assessed by the Commission.
The Commission is responsible for assessing member states' proposed NAPs against 12 allocation criteria listed in the EU ETS. A plan may be accepted in part or in full. The assessment criteria seek, among other things, to ensure that plans are consistent with (a) meeting the EU's and member states' Kyoto commitments, (b) actual verified emissions reported in the Commission's annual progress reports, and (c) technological potential for reducing emissions. The Commission insists that Finland reduce its proposed cap by 2 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year, to 37.6 million tonnes. Other assessment criteria relate to non-discrimination, EU competition and state aid rules, and technical aspects. In this regard, the Commission has insisted upon further changes to Finland's plan concerning the following issues: - several intended ex-post adjustments must be eliminated; - the maximum overall amount of Kyoto project credits - credits from emission-saving projects carried out in third countries under Kyoto Protocol rules - which may be used by operators for compliance purposes may not represent more than approximately 10 % of its annual allocation; - there should be a complete list of all installations with the quantities of allowances intended to be allocated to each installation.
The Commission's approval of the plan will become automatic once Finland has made the appropriate changes. (ol)