Application of the European Union Emissions Trading Directive : analysis of national responses under Article 21 of the EU ETS Directive in 2019

This is a technical report that analyses and evaluates the national responses under Article 21 of the EU Emissions Trading System Directive (EU ETS Directive). It takes into consideration information reported for 2018 and also takes into account responses from previous years of the third period (from 2013). MS reported 10 609 installations in the EU ETS for 2018, representing a 0.7% decrease from the number of installations in 2017. The total emissions of stationary installations decreased to 1.431 Mt CO2 (eq) whereas the emissions of aircraft operators increased to 67.5 Mt CO2 (eq). Reporting by Member States (MS) showed high levels of completeness and timeliness similar as in previous years. Moreover, continuous improvement can be observed in data quality for the reporting of fuel emissions and especially the fuel consumption. The EU ETS Directive is implemented well. This is reflected especially in the correct use of default and literature values, the completeness of sampling plans, the application of the highest tier approach by category B and C installations, the decreasing number of installations employing the fall-back approach and the low number of verified annual emission reports (AER) rejected by Competent Authorities. However, there is still room for improvement on how to complete the data in the Article 21 questionnaire, in particular regarding processes in the compliance cycle that are time consuming and can last more than one year (e.g. information on conservative estimates and penalties). As these processes can cover multiple years, it is difficult to pinpoint the year to which the data relates. This complicates the analysis of the information on these processes. Furthermore, certain items in the questionnaire have been interpreted differently by Member States such as the number of small emitters using the Small Emitter Tool and the Eurocontrol Support Facility. In some MS, no improvement reports were required although some outstanding issues had been mentioned in the verification reports.