EU takes step towards 2012 emissions allowance auctions
The European Commission has taken another step towards auctioning off phase III allowances next year by adopting part of the legal framework that will determine the auction volume of EU allowances (EUAs) in 2012. The two joint procurement agreement amendments to the auctioning regulation came into force on Friday, 25 November.
The regulation is unchanged from the version agreed by member states earlier this year, on 13 July, the Commission said. It covers auctions of aviation allowances valid as of 2012 as well as mainstream EUAs that are valid as of 2013, but available as of 2012.
Joint procurement agreements
The first agreement will regulate how the EU procures common auction platforms, which will place around 60% of the supply to be auctioned and will be used by 24 member states.
The second agreement outlines the selection of an auction monitor in order to oversee auctions conducted on all platforms.
The agreements only set out the rules of the procurement procedures. The Commission and EU states are still locked in negotiations over how the actual tenders will be carried out, the EU executive said.
The Commission aims to launch these tenders together with member states around the end of the year.
Opt outs
Germany, Poland and the UK have told the Commission that they plan to opt out of the planned common platform for auctioning off EUAs in phase III, starting 2013.
Only Germany has so far published the tender specifications for its transitional auction platform on the website of its ministry of environment. The transitional platform is expected to hold auctions over a maximum of 16 months to sell 23.5m allowances to stationary plants and airlines to be assigned to Germany in 2012, according to the document. The temporary platform will remain in place until 2013, when the country's permanent auction platform will start. MLDB
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