The publication of post-2020 EU ETS reforms may be delayed until September but not any later, Europe’s climate commissioner Miguel Arias Canete said on Monday in a second warning that the proposal might miss its July 15 scheduled release.
“If we don’t meet the July target, it will be very early September and no later,” he said in response to questions following an EU energy council summit in Luxembourg.
“I don’t want speed to prevail over quality in a balanced approach… This is a very complicated proposal. We are working very hard on it,” he said, adding that publication before the Commission’s August summer break was still possible.
Commission documents leaked last week showed a panel of officials had requested revisions to an impact assessment of the proposal, suggesting further work that could potentially delay its publication.
The review will govern post-2020 rules such as deepening the annual ETS cap reduction to 2.2% from the current 1.74% rate, as well as determining rules for allocating free allowances to industries deemed vulnerable to carbon leakage.
It is also due to contain proposals on whether to use unallocated allowances destined to enter the MSR in 2020 for additional carbon leakage measures.
One analyst has said that gains in EUA prices would likely be capped until the Commission gave its proposal on the ultimate fate of the unallocated allowances.
The ETS review proposal would still need to be agreed by EU lawmakers in a process that could take at least two years.
By Ben Garside – ben@carbon-pulse.com
