Commission to demand tougher emissions regimes

The European Commission will next Tuesday (16 January) require Belgium, Cyprus and the Netherlands to revise their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions-trading plans.

The Commission is expected to reject national allocation plans (NAPs) from the three member states on the grounds that they allocate too many emission permits to national industries.

NAPs from nine other member states, including the UK and Germany, were last month rejected for the same reason.

NAPs are the building blocks of the EU emissions trading scheme (ETS) that involves industries buying and selling the right to emit CO2.

Belgium proposed an emission cap for the second phase of emissions trading, from 2008 to 2012, higher than its verified 2005 emissions.

Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas has taken a tough line with NAPs for this round, insisting on quotas below 2005 levels.

The Netherlands is also expected to be criticised for being over-generous with emission permits, although it has proposed a cap of 2.5 million tonnes lower than 2005 levels. This reduction would be less than the 6% recommended by the Commission.

Cyprus is also thought by the Commission to have allocated too many emission permits for second-round trading. Cyprus currently has no binding emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol.

The European Commission will next Tuesday (16 January) require Belgium, Cyprus and the Netherlands to revise their carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions-trading plans.