UK opens consultation on 2nd stage of transposing Aviation EU ETS directive into national regulations
public consultation seeking views on the second set of draft UK regulations to
transpose the EU directive on the inclusion of aviation into the EU Emissions
Trading Scheme (EU ETS). The first set came into force on 17 September 2009 in
order to transpose the key parts of the Aviation Directive that enabled the UK
Government with the necessary legal powers to determine aircraft operators’ emissions
plans and applications for a free allocation before the first reporting year starting
1 January 2010. These new regulations will ultimately repeal in part and replace
the first stage regulations and provide for a full transposition of the Directive.
5 March 2010, include:
consultees’, DECC notes that Article 3d (4) of the Aviation Directive affords
a discretion to Member States, which provides that they may allocate revenue generated
from auctioning allowances to tackle climate change. However, responds DECC, "the UK Government does not earmark revenue from auctioning for
specific projects. Auctioning revenues are fed into the Government’s consolidated
fund." No comments to this are requested by the document.
policy, whereby operators would cease to receive a free allocation of allowances
each year if they stopped operations or fell outside of the scope of the EU ETS.
The UK Government believes that an EU-wide closures policy is required for the
aviation sector of the EU ETS since an airline that has ceased operating or later
falls outside the scheme no longer needs an allocation of free allowances. Under
the current rules, an airline that ceased flying in 2012 would continue to receive
a free allocation each year up to 2020.
Commission and other Member States to agree an EU-wide closures policy. We will
seek all suitable opportunities to provide for a closures policy through amending
the Aviation EU ETS Directive, or through other European legislation, including
withholding free allowances in years following an airline operator ceasing its
activities. Our aim is to put in place an EU-wide closures policy before aviation
joins the EU ETS at the start of 2012. Initial discussions with the European Commission
and other Member States suggest that they are also looking for a solution to this
issue."
operators should note that all references to Member States on templates should
be interpreted as including all 30 EEA States. The EEA comprises the 27 EU Member
States plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.