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Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (Text with EEA relevance)

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Changes over time for: Article 10a

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Version Superseded: 08/04/2018

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[F1Article 10a U.K. Transitional Community-wide rules for harmonised free allocation

1. By 31 December 2010 , the Commission shall adopt Community-wide and fully-harmonised implementing measures for the allocation of the allowances referred to in paragraphs 4, 5, 7 and 12, including any necessary provisions for a harmonised application of paragraph 19.

Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 23(3).

The measures referred to in the first subparagraph shall, to the extent feasible, determine Community-wide ex-ante benchmarks so as to ensure that allocation takes place in a manner that provides incentives for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficient techniques, by taking account of the most efficient techniques, substitutes, alternative production processes, high efficiency cogeneration, efficient energy recovery of waste gases, use of biomass and capture and storage of CO 2 , where such facilities are available, and shall not provide incentives to increase emissions. No free allocation shall be made in respect of any electricity production, except for cases falling within Article 10c and electricity produced from waste gases.

For each sector and subsector, in principle, the benchmark shall be calculated for products rather than for inputs, in order to maximise greenhouse gas emissions reductions and energy efficiency savings throughout each production process of the sector or the subsector concerned.

In defining the principles for setting ex-ante benchmarks in individual sectors and subsectors, the Commission shall consult the relevant stakeholders, including the sectors and subsectors concerned.

The Commission shall, upon the approval by the Community of an international agreement on climate change leading to mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions comparable to those of the Community, review those measures to provide that free allocation is only to take place where this is fully justified in the light of that agreement.

2. In defining the principles for setting ex-ante benchmarks in individual sectors or subsectors, the starting point shall be the average performance of the 10 % most efficient installations in a sector or subsector in the Community in the years 2007-2008. The Commission shall consult the relevant stakeholders, including the sectors and subsectors concerned.

The regulations pursuant to Articles 14 and 15 shall provide for harmonised rules on monitoring, reporting and verification of production-related greenhouse gas emissions with a view to determining the ex-ante benchmarks.

3. Subject to paragraphs 4 and 8, and notwithstanding Article 10c, no free allocation shall be given to electricity generators, to installations for the capture of CO 2 , to pipelines for transport of CO 2 or to CO 2 storage sites.

4. Free allocation shall be given to district heating as well as to high efficiency cogeneration, as defined by Directive 2004/8/EC, for economically justifiable demand, in respect of the production of heating or cooling. In each year subsequent to 2013, the total allocation to such installations in respect of the production of that heat shall be adjusted by the linear factor referred to in Article 9.

5. The maximum annual amount of allowances that is the basis for calculating allocations to installations which are not covered by paragraph 3 and are not new entrants shall not exceed the sum of:

(a) the annual Community-wide total quantity, as determined pursuant to Article 9, multiplied by the share of emissions from installations not covered by paragraph 3 in the total average verified emissions, in the period from 2005 to 2007, from installations covered by the Community scheme in the period from 2008 to 2012; and

(b) the total average annual verified emissions from installations in the period from 2005 to 2007 which are only included in the Community scheme from 2013 onwards and are not covered by paragraph 3, adjusted by the linear factor, as referred to in Article 9.

A uniform cross-sectoral correction factor shall be applied if necessary.

6. Member States may also adopt financial measures in favour of sectors or subsectors determined to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage due to costs relating to greenhouse gas emissions passed on in electricity prices, in order to compensate for those costs and where such financial measures are in accordance with state aid rules applicable and to be adopted in this area.

Those measures shall be based on ex-ante benchmarks of the indirect emissions of CO 2 per unit of production. The ex-ante benchmarks shall be calculated for a given sector or subsector as the product of the electricity consumption per unit of production corresponding to the most efficient available technologies and of the CO 2 emissions of the relevant European electricity production mix.

7. Five percent of the Community-wide quantity of allowances determined in accordance with Articles 9 and 9a over the period from 2013 to 2020 shall be set aside for new entrants, as the maximum that may be allocated to new entrants in accordance with the rules adopted pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article. Allowances in this Community-wide reserve that are neither allocated to new entrants nor used pursuant to paragraph 8, 9 or 10 of this Article over the period from 2013 to 2020 shall be auctioned by the Member States, taking into account the level to which installations in Member States have benefited from this reserve, in accordance with Article 10(2) and, for detailed arrangements and timing, Article 10(4), and the relevant implementing provisions.

Allocations shall be adjusted by the linear factor referred to in Article 9.

No free allocation shall be made in respect of any electricity production by new entrants.

By 31 December 2010 , the Commission shall adopt harmonised rules for the application of the definition of new entrant , in particular in relation to the definition of significant extensions .

Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 23(3).

8. Up to 300 million allowances in the new entrants' reserve shall be available until 31 December 2015 to help stimulate the construction and operation of up to 12 commercial demonstration projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture and geological storage (CCS) of CO 2 as well as demonstration projects of innovative renewable energy technologies, in the territory of the Union.

The allowances shall be made available for support for demonstration projects that provide for the development, in geographically balanced locations, of a wide range of CCS and innovative renewable energy technologies that are not yet commercially viable. Their award shall be dependent upon the verified avoidance of CO 2 emissions.

Projects shall be selected on the basis of objective and transparent criteria that include requirements for knowledge-sharing. Those criteria and the measures shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 23(3), and shall be made available to the public.

Allowances shall be set aside for the projects that meet the criteria referred to in the third subparagraph. Support for these projects shall be given via Member States and shall be complementary to substantial co-financing by the operator of the installation. They could also be co-financed by the Member State concerned, as well as by other instruments. No project shall receive support via the mechanism under this paragraph that exceeds 15 % of the total number of allowances available for this purpose. These allowances shall be taken into account under paragraph 7.

9. Lithuania, which, pursuant to Article 1 of Protocol No 4 on the Ignalina nuclear power plant in Lithuania, annexed to the 2003 Act of Accession, has committed to the closure of unit 2 of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant by 31 December 2009 , may, if the total verified emissions of Lithuania in the period from 2013 to 2015 within the Community scheme exceed the sum of the free allowances issued to installations in Lithuania for electricity production emissions in that period and three-eighths of the allowances to be auctioned by Lithuania for the period from 2013 to 2020, claim allowances from the new entrants reserve for auctioning in accordance with the regulation referred to in Article 10(4). The maximum amount of such allowances shall be equivalent to the excess emissions in that period to the extent that this excess is due to increased emissions from electricity generation, minus any quantity by which allocations in that Member State in the period from 2008 to 2012 exceeded verified emissions within the Community scheme in Lithuania during that period. Any such allowances shall be taken into account under paragraph 7.

10. Any Member State with an electricity network which is interconnected with Lithuania and which, in 2007, imported more than 15 % of its domestic electricity consumption from Lithuania for its own consumption, and where emissions have increased due to investment in new electricity generation, may apply paragraph 9 mutatis mutandis under the conditions set out in that paragraph.

11. Subject to Article 10b, the amount of allowances allocated free of charge under paragraphs 4 to 7 of this Article in 2013 shall be 80 % of the quantity determined in accordance with the measures referred to in paragraph 1. Thereafter the free allocation shall decrease each year by equal amounts resulting in 30 % free allocation in 2020, with a view to reaching no free allocation in 2027.

12. Subject to Article 10b, in 2013 and in each subsequent year up to 2020, installations in sectors or subsectors which are exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage shall be allocated, pursuant to paragraph 1, allowances free of charge at 100 % of the quantity determined in accordance with the measures referred to in paragraph 1.

13. By 31 December 2009 and every five years thereafter, after discussion in the European Council, the Commission shall determine a list of the sectors or subsectors referred to in paragraph 12 on the basis of the criteria referred to in paragraphs 14 to 17.

Every year the Commission may, at its own initiative or at the request of a Member State, add a sector or subsector to the list referred to in the first subparagraph if it can be demonstrated, in an analytical report, that this sector or subsector satisfies the criteria in paragraphs 14 to 17, following a change that has a substantial impact on the sector’s or subsector’s activities.

For the purpose of implementing this Article, the Commission shall consult the Member States, the sectors or subsectors concerned and other relevant stakeholders.

Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive by supplementing it, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 23(3).

14. In order to determine the sectors or subsectors referred to in paragraph 12, the Commission shall assess, at Community level, the extent to which it is possible for the sector or subsector concerned, at the relevant level of disaggregation, to pass on the direct cost of the required allowances and the indirect costs from higher electricity prices resulting from the implementation of this Directive into product prices without significant loss of market share to less carbon efficient installations outside the Community. These assessments shall be based on an average carbon price according to the Commission’s impact assessment accompanying the package of implementation measures for the EU’s objectives on climate change and renewable energy for 2020 and, if available, trade, production and value added data from the three most recent years for each sector or subsector.

15. A sector or subsector shall be deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage if:

(a) the sum of direct and indirect additional costs induced by the implementation of this Directive would lead to a substantial increase of production costs, calculated as a proportion of the gross value added, of at least 5 %; and

(b) the intensity of trade with third countries, defined as the ratio between the total value of exports to third countries plus the value of imports from third countries and the total market size for the Community (annual turnover plus total imports from third countries), is above 10 %.

16. Notwithstanding paragraph 15, a sector or subsector is also deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage if:

(a) the sum of direct and indirect additional costs induced by the implementation of this Directive would lead to a particularly high increase of production costs, calculated as a proportion of the gross value added, of at least 30 %; or

(b) the intensity of trade with third countries, defined as the ratio between the total value of exports to third countries plus the value of imports from third countries and the total market size for the Community (annual turnover plus total imports from third countries), is above 30 %.

17. The list referred to in paragraph 13 may be supplemented after completion of a qualitative assessment, taking into account, where the relevant data are available, the following criteria:

(a) the extent to which it is possible for individual installations in the sector or subsector concerned to reduce emission levels or electricity consumption, including, as appropriate, the increase in production costs that the related investment may entail, for instance on the basis of the most efficient techniques;

(b) current and projected market characteristics, including when trade exposure or direct and indirect cost increase rates are close to one of the thresholds mentioned in paragraph 16;

(c) profit margins as a potential indicator of long-run investment or relocation decisions.

18. The list referred to in paragraph 13 shall be determined after taking into account, where the relevant data are available, the following:

(a) the extent to which third countries, representing a decisive share of global production of products in sectors or subsectors deemed to be at risk of carbon leakage, firmly commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the relevant sectors or subsectors to an extent comparable to that of the Community and within the same time-frame; and

(b) the extent to which the carbon efficiency of installations located in these countries is comparable to that of the Community.

19. No free allocation shall be given to an installation that has ceased its operations, unless the operator demonstrates to the competent authority that this installation will resume production within a specified and reasonable time. Installations for which the greenhouse gas emissions permit has expired or has been withdrawn and installations for which the operation or resumption of operation is technically impossible shall be considered to have ceased operations.

20. The Commission shall, as part of the measures adopted under paragraph 1, include measures for defining installations that partially cease to operate or significantly reduce their capacity, and measures for adapting, as appropriate, the level of free allocations given to them accordingly.]

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