Brussels, 04/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - A public consultation on rules to govern the auctioning of emission allowances with effect from 2013 under the EU's revised Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), as amended in December of last year by one of the Energy/Climate Package of directives, has been launched.
Consultants working for the European Commission have begun the exercise which will run until 3 August. The aim is to gather the views of all stakeholders on the rules that the Commission is preparing to ensure that the auctioning of these “permits to pollute” are open, transparent, harmonised and non-discriminatory. The regulation is expected to be adopted by the Commission before 30 June 2010.
The consultation exercise seeks views notably on the timing, size and frequency of auctions, auction design and regulatory aspects relating to issues such as pre-registration of participants, the number of auction processes that could be used and the appropriate degree of coordination between member states.
Under the revised EU ETS, free allocation of emissions allowances, which was the rule in the first and second exchange periods (2005-2007 and 2008-2012 respectively) will gradually be replaced with auctions, compulsory for electricity power stations from 2013, with few exceptions.
The consultation questionnaire is available at https: //quickplace.icfconsulting.com/eu-ets-auctions-consultation.
The European Commission will also seek the views of interested parties at a debate it will hold on the consultation document during Green Week, in Brussels on 24 June. (A.N./transl.rt)