Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2904 of 25 October 2023 amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the functioning of the Union Registry
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2904of 25 October 2023amending Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the functioning of the Union Registry(Text with EEA relevance)THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Union and amending Council Directive 96/61/ECOJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32., and in particular Article 19(3) thereof, Whereas:(1)Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 of 12 March 2019 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the functioning of the Union Registry (OJ L 177, 2.7.2019, p. 3). lays down general, operational and maintenance requirements concerning the Union Registry provided for in Directive 2003/87/EC and applies to allowances created for the purposes of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).(2)Directive 2003/87/EC has been amended to include as of 2024 emissions from maritime transport in the EU ETS. Shipping companies will thus be subject to a requirement to surrender emission allowances corresponding to a certain share of its greenhouse gas emissions, which will gradually increase until 2026. It is therefore appropriate to establish specific rules for the opening and closure of maritime operator holding accounts by shipping companies. Several derogations from the surrender requirement have been introduced that apply to maritime transport emissions. They should be reflected in the calculation of the compliance status figure for shipping companies.(3)Directive 2003/87/EC has also been amended to include as of 2027 a separate but parallel emissions trading system to be applied to fuels used for combustion in the buildings and road transport sectors as well as in additional sectors of industrial activities not covered by Annex I to that Directive. Therefore, specific rules should be established for holding accounts and for surrender of allowances in respect of regulated entities carrying out an activity referred to in Annex III of Directive 2003/87/EC. Since the new emissions trading system remains separate from the existing system for stationary installations and aviation, this distinction should be reflected with regard to allowances issued for the sectors concerned in the Union Registry.(4)The new compliance dates for operators to surrender allowances set out in Directive 2003/87/EC should be reflected. The compliance date for stationary installations and aircraft operators should therefore be changed to 30 September. The compliance dates for maritime operators and regulated entities should also be changed to 30 September and 31 May respectively.(5)It is also necessary to delete references to legal provisions that have been removed from Directive 2003/87/EC and to address certain needs for simplification that have emerged from past experience. The rules on the return of excess allocation should be updated in order to allow such transaction from blocked accounts. The information on parent and subsidiary company should be at account holder level and not at company level.(6)A new account type should be established for third-country governments that have entered into a non-binding arrangement with the Union in accordance with Directive 2003/87/EC. This new account type should enable those third country governments to delete allowances acquired on the Union market.(7)A provision has been introduced in Directive 2003/87/EC giving the competent authority of a Member State the possibility to exempt a regulated entity that is subject to national carbon tax from the obligation to surrender allowances. A new account type should be established for Member States that decide to make use of that possibility. A Member State should thus be allowed to delete allowances relating to fuels used for combustion in the buildings and road transport sectors and in additional sectors, where its auction volumes are below the amount of allowances that have to be cancelled.(8)As of 1 January 2025, general allowances are to be issued also for the aviation sector, by means of free allocation and auctioning, thus covering emissions from the stationary, maritime and aviation sectors. However, in order to ensure a smooth transition and legal certainty for the users, aviation allowances issued before the end of 2024 should remain in the accounts and in circulation.(9)In order to enhance transparency, and improve market monitoring, of purely bilateral over-the-counter transactions of emission allowances, such transactions should be systematically marked in the Union Registry. To avoid data inconsistencies, the term bilateral transactions shall have the same meaning as in the relevant financial reporting frameworks. Moreover, in order to improve the quality of data available to market regulators for the so-called spot market of emission allowances, market regulators should be allowed to request access to data in the Union Registry with regular intervals depending on their monitoring needs.(10)Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 should therefore be amended accordingly.(11)In order to allow market participants time to adapt to the merging of general and aviation allowances and to prevent legal uncertainty regarding the use and the validity of allowances in the year 2024, the application of the provisions on the merging of general allowances and aviation allowances should be deferred.(12)In order to ensure the timely application of the EU ETS for maritime operators as of 1 January 2024, this Regulation should enter into force as a matter of urgency on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.(13)The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted in accordance with Article 42 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilRegulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39). and delivered an opinion on 25 September 2023,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: