EU Negotiators to Seek Agreement on ETS, Disputed Start Date for Carbon Price Fix

摘要

Negotiations will begin March 30 between the European Parliament and European Union member states on adjustments to the bloc's emissions trading system (ETS) intended to prevent buildup of large carbon-allowance surpluses, despite ongoing disagreement between EU countries on when the adjustment mechanism should start. The Council of the EU, which represents the governments of member states, said March 25 that it had given Latvia, which currently holds the council's rotating presidency, a mandate to start the negotiations on the so-called ETS market stability reserve (MSR), which was proposed by the European Commission in January 2014 (37 INER 146, 1/29/14). Under the MSR mechanism, an allowance surplus above 833 million allowances in any year would automatically trigger the move of 12 percent of the surplus into a reserve. If the surplus falls below 400 million allowances, 100 million allowances would be released from the reserve.