Compliance under the EU Effort Sharing Regulation

This paper provides an overview of the timeline for compliance under the EU Effort Sharing Regulation. The consistent and continuous reduction of emissions in the affected sectors is of paramount importance so that the emission allowances allocated free of charge in 2021-2030 are ideally sufficient to cover emissions and the climate targets are achieved. The schedule for reviewing compliance (known as the compliance process) in 2028 and 2033 is very tight. This short period is primarily for making the corresponding entries in the registry and leaves little time for coordination processes, either within the individual Member States or between them. Measures to cover an emerging gap to fulfilling the emission targets should be planned annually – as early as possible – and negotiated with other Member States if applicable. This is necessary because of the high demand expected for emission allocations, but also underlines the need for domestic emission reductions.