Considerations on COM(2003)51 - Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council for a monitoring mechanism of Community greenhouse gas emissions and the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2003)51 - Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council for a monitoring mechanism of Community greenhouse gas ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2003)51  |
| date | February 11, 2004 |
(2) The ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which was approved by Council Decision 94/69/EC(4), is to achieve stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level which prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
(3) The UNFCCC commits the Community and its Member States to develop, periodically update, publish and report to the Conference of the Parties national inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer (hereinafter greenhouse gases), using comparable methodologies agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties.
(4) There is a need for thorough monitoring and regular assessment of Community greenhouse gas emissions. The measures taken by the Community and its Member States in the field of climate change policy also need to be analysed in good time.
(5) Accurate reporting under this Decision at an early stage would allow early determination of emissions levels pursuant to Council Decision 2002/358/EC of 25 April 2002 concerning the approval, on behalf of the European Community, of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the joint fulfilment of commitments thereunder(5), and thereby enable early establishment of eligibility to participate in the Kyoto Protocol's flexible mechanisms.
(6) The UNFCCC commits all Parties to formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national, and where appropriate, regional programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change by addressing anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases.
(7) The Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC was approved by Decision 2002/358/EC. Article 3(2) of the Kyoto Protocol requires Parties to the Protocol included in Annex I to the UNFCCC to have made demonstrable progress in achieving their commitments under the Protocol by 2005.
(8) In accordance with part II, section A, of the Annex to Decision 19/CP.7 of the Conference of the Parties, each Party to the Kyoto Protocol included in Annex I to the UNFCCC is required to establish and maintain a national registry in order to ensure the accurate accounting of the issue, holding, transfer, cancellation and withdrawal of emission reduction units, certified emission reductions, assigned amount units and removal units.
(9) In accordance with Decision 19/CP.7, each emission reduction unit, certified emission reduction, assigned amount unit and removal unit should be held only in one account at any given time.
(10) The Community's registry may be used to hold emission reduction units and certified emission reductions generated by projects funded by the Community, thereby providing a stimulus for Community action in third countries to address climate change more widely, and may be maintained in a consolidated system together with Member States' registries.
(11) The purchase and use of emission reduction units and certified emission reductions by the Community should be subject to further provisions to be adopted by the European Parliament and by the Council on a proposal from the Commission.
(12) The Community and the Member States have the obligation, under Decision 2002/358/EC, to take the necessary measures to comply with their emission levels determined pursuant to that Decision. Provisions laid down on the use of emission reduction units and certified emission reductions held in the Community's registry should take into account Member States' responsibilities to fulfil their own commitments in accordance with Decision 2002/358/EC.
(13) The Community and its Member States have made use of Article 4 of the Kyoto Protocol, which allows Parties to the Protocol to meet their emission limitation and reduction commitments jointly. Therefore, it is appropriate to provide for effective cooperation and coordination in relation to obligations under this Decision, including the compilation of the Community greenhouse gas inventory, the evaluation of progress, the preparation of reports, as well as review and compliance procedures enabling the Community to comply with its reporting obligations under the Kyoto Protocol, as laid down in the political agreements and legal decisions taken at the seventh Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Marrakech (hereinafter the Marrakech Accords).
(14) The Community and the Member States are all Parties to the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol, and are each responsible thereunder for reporting, establishing and accounting for their assigned amounts and establishing and maintaining their eligibility to participate in the Kyoto Protocol's mechanisms.
(15) In accordance with Decision 19/CP.7, each Party included in Annex I to the UNFCCC should issue a quantity of assigned amount units equivalent to its assigned amount in its national registry, corresponding to its emission levels determined pursuant to Decision 2002/358/EC and the Kyoto Protocol.
(16) Pursuant to Decision 2002/358/EC, the Community is not to issue assigned amount units.
(17) The European Environment Agency assists the Commission, as appropriate, with monitoring activities, especially in the ambit of the Community inventory system, and in the analysis by the Commission of progress towards the fulfilment of the commitments under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol.
(18) In the light of the role played by the European Environment Agency in compiling the annual Community inventory, it would be appropriate for Member States to design their own national systems in a manner that facilitates the work of the Agency.
(19) Since the objectives of the proposed action, namely to comply with the Community's commitments under the Kyoto Protocol, in particular the monitoring and reporting requirements laid down therein, cannot, by their very nature, be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Decision does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.
(20) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(6).