EU institutions reached an agreement on ETS post 2020
On 8 November 2017, the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament reached a provisional agreement to revise the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) for the period after 2020. The agreement is the result of 2 years of intense negations between the 3 institutions and several years of advocacy of Glass for Europe.
Compared to the Commission’s proposal, the main modifications agreed by Parliament and Council aim to:
- accelerate the emissions reductions
- reinforce the Market Stability Reserve to favour the reduction of the current oversupply of allowances
- provide extra protection to the European industry, if needed, against the risk of carbon leakage;
- help the industry and the power sectors to meet the innovation and investment challenges of the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The text has now to be formally voted by the European Parliament and the Council. Once endorsed, the revised EU ETS Directive will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and enter into force 20 days after publication.
Glass for Europe’s provisional assessment
Glass for Europe had the opportunity to access a leaked version of the final text. At a first reading the outcome of the negotiations is positive for the flat glass industry. If the text is confirmed, the flat glass sector should be fully protected against the risk of carbon leakage after 2020 and the risk of the CSCF to be activated is pushed back. In addition, benchmarks shall decrease at real levels for best performers, and in case of production growth, installations will be compensated proportionally.