Seven European countries have imposed financial penalties on companies that failed to comply with the EU ETS regulation in 2013, though none has resorted to imposing prison sentences, a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA) found.

Those countries were Greece, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, it said, adding that “overall few infringement penalties have been imposed”.

Over the same period six nations – Belgium, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia and the UK – reported that investigations of ETS-related fraud were occurring in their countries, though only the Danish and Dutch environment ministries were systematically told of the cases by their police services.

The EEA report consolidates annual reports that all 31 countries participating in the EU ETS are required to complete annually under EU law. This year’s report includes responses from 29 nations, as France and Italy submitted too late to be included.

By Ben Garside – ben@carbon-pulse.com