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Document 02018R2067-20210101
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067 of 19 December 2018 on the verification of data and on the accreditation of verifiers pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance)Text with EEA relevance
Consolidated text: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067 of 19 December 2018 on the verification of data and on the accreditation of verifiers pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance)Text with EEA relevance
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067 of 19 December 2018 on the verification of data and on the accreditation of verifiers pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance)Text with EEA relevance
ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg_impl/2018/2067/2021-01-01
02018R2067 — EN — 01.01.2021 — 001.001
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COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2018/2067 of 19 December 2018 on the verification of data and on the accreditation of verifiers pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L 334 31.12.2018, p. 94) |
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COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2020/2084 of 14 December 2020 |
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15.12.2020 |
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) 2018/2067
of 19 December 2018
on the verification of data and on the accreditation of verifiers pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
(Text with EEA relevance)
CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
Subject matter
This Regulation lays down provisions for the verification of reports submitted pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC and for the accreditation and supervision of verifiers.
This Regulation also specifies, without prejudice to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, provisions for the mutual recognition of verifiers and peer evaluation of national accreditation bodies pursuant to Article 15 of Directive 2003/87/EC.
Article 2
Scope
This Regulation shall apply to the verification of greenhouse gas emissions and tonne-kilometre data occurring from 1 January 2019, reported pursuant to Article 14 of Directive 2003/87/EC, and to the verification of data relevant for the update of ex ante benchmarks and for the determination of free allocation to installations pursuant to Article 10a of that Directive.
Article 3
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, in addition to the definitions laid down in Article 3 of Directive 2003/87/EC and Article 3 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, the following definitions shall apply:
‘detection risk’ means the risk that the verifier does not detect a material misstatement;
‘accreditation’ means attestation by a national accreditation body that a verifier meets the requirements set by harmonised standards, within the meaning of point 9 of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, and requirements set out in this Regulation to carry out the verification of an operator's or aircraft operator's report pursuant to this Regulation;
‘verifier’ means a legal person carrying out verification activities pursuant to this Regulation and accredited by a national accreditation body pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and this Regulation or a natural person otherwise authorised, without prejudice to Article 5(2) of that Regulation, at the time a verification report is issued;
‘verification’ means the activities carried out by a verifier to issue a verification report pursuant to this Regulation;
‘misstatement’ means an omission, misrepresentation or error in the operator's or aircraft operator's reported data, not considering the uncertainty permissible under Article 12(1)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066.
‘material misstatement’ means a misstatement that, in the opinion of the verifier, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, exceeds the materiality level or could affect the treatment of the operator's or aircraft operator's report by the competent authority;
‘annual activity level report’ means a report submitted by an operator pursuant to Article 3(3) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 ( 1 );
‘operator’s or aircraft operator’s report’ means the annual emission report to be submitted by the operator or aircraft operator pursuant to Article 14(3) of Directive 2003/87/EC, the tonne-kilometre report to be submitted by the aircraft operator for the purposes of applying for the allocation of allowances pursuant to Articles 3e and 3f of that Directive, the baseline data report submitted by the operator pursuant to Article 4(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331, the new entrant data report submitted by the operator pursuant to Article 5(2) of that Regulation or the annual activity level report;
‘scope of accreditation’ means activities referred to in Annex I for which accreditation is sought or has been granted;
‘competence’ means the ability to apply knowledge and skills to carry out an activity;
‘materiality level’ means the quantitative threshold or cut-off point above which misstatements, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, are considered material by the verifier;
‘control system’ means the operator's or aircraft operator's risk assessment and entire set of control activities, including the continuous management thereof, that an operator or aircraft operator has established, documented, implemented and maintained pursuant to Article 59 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or pursuant to Article 11 of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ , as appropriate;
‘control activities’ means any acts carried out or measures implemented by the operator or aircraft operator to mitigate inherent risks;
‘non-conformity’ means one of the following:
for the purposes of verifying an operator's emission report, any act or omission of an act by the operator that is contrary to the greenhouse gas emissions permit and the requirements in the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority;
for the purposes of verifying an aircraft operator's emission or tonne-kilometre report, any act or omission of an act by the aircraft operator that is contrary to the requirements in the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority;
for the purposes of verifying the baseline data report submitted by the operator pursuant to Article 4(2)(a) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331, the new entrant data report submitted by the operator pursuant to Article 5(2) of that Regulation or the annual activity level report, any act or omission of an act by the operator that is contrary to the requirements in the monitoring methodology plan;
for the purposes of accreditation pursuant to Chapter IV, any act or omission of an act by the verifier that is contrary to the requirements of this Regulation;
‘site’ means, for the purposes of verifying the emission or tonne-kilometre report of an aircraft operator, the locations where the monitoring process is defined and managed, including the locations where relevant data and information are controlled and stored;
‘control environment’ means the environment in which the internal control system functions and the overall actions of an operator's or aircraft operator's management to ensure awareness of this internal control system;
‘inherent risk’ means the susceptibility of a parameter in the operator's or aircraft operator's report to misstatements that could be material, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, before taking into consideration the effect of any related control activities;
‘control risk’ means the susceptibility of a parameter in the operator's or aircraft operator's report to misstatements that could be material, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, and that will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis by the control system;
‘verification risk’ means the risk, being a function of inherent risk, control risk and detection risk, that the verifier expresses an inappropriate verification opinion when the operator's or aircraft operator's report is not free of material misstatements;
‘reasonable assurance’ means a high but not absolute level of assurance, expressed positively in the verification opinion, as to whether the operator's or aircraft operator's report subject to verification is free from material misstatement;
‘analytical procedures’ means the analysis of fluctuations and trends in the data including an analysis of the relationships that are inconsistent with other relevant information or that deviate from predicted amounts;
‘internal verification documentation’ means all internal documentation that a verifier has compiled to record all documentary evidence and justification of activities that are carried out for the verification of an operator's or aircraft operator's report;
‘EU ETS lead auditor’ means an EU ETS auditor in charge of directing and supervising the verification team, who is responsible for performing and reporting on the verification of an operator's or aircraft operator's report;
‘EU ETS auditor’ means an individual member of a verification team responsible for conducting a verification of an operator's or aircraft operator's report other than the EU ETS lead auditor;
‘technical expert’ means a person who provides detailed knowledge and expertise on a specific subject matter needed for the performance of verification activities for the purposes of Chapter III and for the performance of accreditation activities for the purposes of Chapter V;
‘level of assurance’ means the degree of assurance the verifier provides on the verification report based on the objective of reducing the verification risk according to the circumstances of the verification engagement;
‘assessor’ means a person assigned by a national accreditation body to perform individually or as part of an assessment team an assessment of a verifier pursuant to this Regulation;
‘lead assessor’ means an assessor who is given the overall responsibility for assessing a verifier pursuant to this Regulation;
‘baseline data report’ means a report submitted by an operator pursuant to Article 4(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
‘new entrant data report’ means a report submitted by an operator pursuant to Article 5(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
‘activity level reporting period’ means the applicable period preceding the submission of the annual activity level report pursuant to Article 3(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842.
Article 4
Presumption of conformity
Where a verifier demonstrates its conformity with the criteria laid down in the relevant harmonised standards as defined in point (9) of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, or parts thereof, the references of which have been published in the Official Journal of the European Union, it shall, with the exception of Articles 7(1), 7(4), 22, 27(1), 28, 31 and 32 of this Regulation, be presumed to comply with the requirements set out in Chapters II and III of this Regulation in so far as the applicable harmonised standards cover those requirements.
Article 5
General framework for accreditation
Where no specific provisions concerning the composition of the national accreditation bodies or the activities and requirements linked to accreditation are laid down in this Regulation, the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall apply.
CHAPTER II
VERIFICATION
Article 6
Reliability of verification
A verified emissions report, tonne-kilometre report, baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report shall be reliable for users. It shall represent faithfully that, which it either purports to represent or may reasonably be expected to represent.
The process of verifying operator's or aircraft operator's report shall be an effective and reliable tool in support of quality assurance and quality control procedures, providing information upon which an operator or aircraft operator can act to improve performance in monitoring and reporting emissions or data relevant for free allocation.
Article 7
General obligations of the verifier
During the verification, the verifier shall assess whether:
the operator’s or aircraft operator’s report is complete and meets the requirements laid down in Annex X to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, in Annex IV to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Article 3(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842, as appropriate;
the operator or aircraft operator has acted in compliance with the requirements of the greenhouse gas emissions permit and the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority, where the verification of an operator's emission report is concerned, and with the requirements of the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority, where the verification of an aircraft operator's emission or tonne-kilometre report is concerned;
where the verification of an operator’s baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report is concerned, the operator has acted in conformance with the requirements of the monitoring methodology plan pursuant to Article 8 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 approved by the competent authority;
the data in the operator's or aircraft operator's report are free from material misstatements;
information can be provided in support of the operator's or aircraft operator's data flow activities, control system and associated procedures to improve the performance of their monitoring and reporting.
By way of derogation from point (c), the verifier shall assess whether the operator's monitoring methodology plan is in compliance with the requirements of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ where the monitoring methodology plan is not subject to approval of the competent authority prior to submission of the baseline data report. If the verifier discovers that a monitoring methodology plan does not comply with Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ , the operator shall modify the monitoring methodology plan so that it complies with that Regulation.
For the purpose of point (d) of this paragraph, the verifier shall obtain clear and objective evidence from the operator or aircraft operator to support the reported aggregated emissions, tonne-kilometres or data relevant for free allocation taking into account all other information provided in the operator's or aircraft operator's report.
If the monitoring methodology plan is subject to the approval of the competent authority prior to submission of the baseline data report pursuant to Article 8(4) of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ and the monitoring methodology plan has not been approved or is incomplete, or where significant modifications referred to in Article 9(5) of that Regulation have been made which have not been approved by the competent authority, the verifier shall advise the operator to obtain the necessary approval from the competent authority.
Following the approval by the competent authority, the verifier shall continue, repeat or adapt the verification activities accordingly.
If the approval has not been obtained before the issue of the verification report, the verifier shall report this in the verification report.
Article 8
Pre-contractual obligations
Before accepting a verification engagement, a verifier shall obtain a proper understanding of the operator or aircraft operator and assess whether it can undertake the verification. For this purpose the verifier shall at least:
evaluate the risks involved to undertake the verification of the operator's or aircraft operator's report in accordance with this Regulation;
undertake a review of the information supplied by the operator or aircraft operator to determine the scope of the verification;
assess whether the engagement falls within the scope of its accreditation;
assess whether it has the competence, personnel and resources required to select a verification team capable of dealing with the complexity of the installation or the aircraft operator's activities and fleet as well as whether it is capable of successfully completing the verification activities within the timeframe required;
assess whether it is capable of ensuring that the potential verification team at its disposal holds all the competence, and persons required to carry out verification activities for that specific operator or aircraft operator;
determine, for each verification engagement requested, the time allocation needed to properly carry out the verification.
Article 9
Time allocation
When determining the time allocation for a verification engagement referred to in Article 8(1)(f), the verifier shall at least take into account:
the complexity of the installation or the aircraft operator's activities and fleet;
the level of information and the complexity of the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority or the monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate;
the required materiality level;
the complexity and completeness of the data flow activities and the control system of the operator or aircraft operator;
the location of information and data related to greenhouse gas emissions, tonne-kilometre data or data relevant for free allocation.
The verifier shall ensure that the verification contract provides for the possibility for time to be charged in addition to the time agreed in the contract, where such additional time is found to be needed for the strategic analysis, risk analysis or other verification activities. The situations where the additional time may be needed shall include at least the following:
during the verification where the data flow activities, control activities or logistics of the operator or aircraft operator seem to be more complex than initially anticipated;
where misstatements, non-conformities, insufficient data or errors in the data sets are identified by the verifier during the verification.
Article 10
Information from an operator or aircraft operator
Before the strategic analysis and at other points of time during the verification, the operator or aircraft operator shall provide the verifier with all of the following:
the operator's greenhouse gas emissions permit, if this concerns the verification of an operator's emission report;
the latest version of the operator's or aircraft operator's monitoring plan as well as any other relevant versions of the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority, including evidence of the approval;
the latest version of the operator's monitoring methodology plan as well as any other relevant versions of the monitoring methodology plan, including, where applicable, evidence of the approval;
a description of the operator's or aircraft operator's data flow activities;
the operator's or aircraft operator's risk assessment referred to in Article 59(2)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or Article 11(1) of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ , as appropriate, and an outline of the overall control system;
where applicable, the simplified uncertainty assessment referred to in Article 7(2)(c) of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
the procedures mentioned in the monitoring plan as approved by the competent authority or the monitoring methodology plan, including procedures for data flow activities and control activities;
the operator’s or aircraft operator’s annual emission, tonne-kilometre report, baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report, as appropriate;
the baseline data reports of previous allocation periods for earlier allocation phases and annual activity level reports of the previous years submitted to the competent authority for the purpose of Article 10a(21) of Directive 2003/87/EC, if applicable;
where applicable, the operator's sampling plan referred to in Article 33 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 as approved by the competent authority;
if the monitoring plan was modified during the reporting period, a record of all those modifications in accordance with Article 16(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
if the monitoring methodology plan was modified, a record of all modifications in accordance with Article 9 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331;
where applicable, the reports referred to in Article 69(1) and 69(4) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
where applicable, information on how the operator has corrected non-conformities or addressed recommendations of improvements that were reported in the verification report concerning an annual activity level report from the previous year or a relevant baseline data report;
the verification report from the previous year or the previous baseline period, as appropriate, if the verifier did not carry out the verification for that particular operator or aircraft operator the previous year or baseline period, as appropriate;
all relevant correspondence with the competent authority, in particular information related to the notification of modifications of the monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan as well as corrections of reported data, as appropriate;
information on databases and data sources used for monitoring and reporting purposes, including those from Eurocontrol or another relevant organisation;
where the verification concerns the emission report of an installation carrying out the geological storage of greenhouse gases in a storage site permitted under Directive 2009/31/EC, the monitoring plan required by that Directive and the reports required by Article 14 of that Directive, covering at least the reporting period of the emissions report to be verified;
where applicable, the approval of the competent authority for not carrying out site visits for installations pursuant to Article 31(1);
the operator's evidence demonstrating compliance with the uncertainty thresholds for the tiers laid down in the monitoring plan;
any other relevant information necessary for planning and carrying out the verification.
Article 11
Strategic analysis
For the purposes of understanding the activities carried out by the installation or the aircraft operator, the verifier shall collect and review the information needed to assess that the verification team is sufficiently competent to carry out the verification, to determine that the time allocation indicated in the contract has been set correctly and to ensure that it is able to conduct the necessary risk analysis. The information shall include at least:
the information referred to in Article 10(1);
the required materiality level;
the information obtained from the verification in previous years, if the verifier is carrying out the verification for the same operator or aircraft operator.
When reviewing the information referred to in paragraph 2, the verifier shall at least assess the following:
for the purposes of the verification of the operator's emission report, the category of the installation referred to in Article 19 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 and the activities carried out at that installation;
for the purposes of the verification of the aircraft operator's emission or tonne- kilometre report, the size and nature of the aircraft operator, the distribution of information in different locations as well as the number and type of flights;
the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, as well as the specifics of the monitoring methodology laid down in that monitoring plan or the monitoring methodology plan as appropriate;
the nature, scale and complexity of emission sources and source streams as well as the equipment and processes that have resulted in emissions, tonne-kilometre data or data relevant for free allocation, including the measurement equipment described in the monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan as appropriate, the origin and application of calculation factors and other primary data sources;
the data flow activities, the control system and the control environment.
When carrying out the strategic analysis, the verifier shall check the following:
whether the monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, presented to it is the most recent version and, where required, approved by the competent authority;
whether there have been any modifications to the monitoring plan during the reporting period;
whether there have been any modifications to the monitoring methodology plan during the baseline period or the activity level reporting period, as appropriate;
where applicable, whether the modifications referred to in point (b) have been notified to the competent authority pursuant to Article 15(1) or Article 23 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or approved by the competent authority in accordance with Article 15(2) of that Implementing Regulation.
where applicable, whether the modifications referred to in point (ba) have been notified to the competent authority pursuant to Article 9(3) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or approved by the competent authority in accordance with Article 9(4) of that Regulation.
Article 12
Risk analysis
The verifier shall identify and analyse the following elements to design, plan and implement an effective verification:
the inherent risks;
the control activities;
where control activities referred to in point (b) have been implemented, the control risks concerning the effectiveness of those control activities.
When identifying and analysing the elements referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall at least consider:
the findings from the strategic analysis referred to in Article 11(1);
the information referred to in Article 10(1) and Article 11(2)(c);
the materiality level referred to in Article 11(2)(b).
Article 13
Verification plan
The verifier shall draft a verification plan commensurate with the information obtained and the risks identified during the strategic analysis and the risk analysis, and including at least:
a verification programme describing the nature and scope of the verification activities as well as the time and manner in which these activities are to be carried out;
a test plan setting out the scope and methods of testing the control activities as well as the procedures for control activities;
a data sampling plan setting out the scope and methods of data sampling related to data points underlying the aggregated emissions in the operator or aircraft operator’s emission report, the aggregated tonne-kilometre data in the aircraft operator’s tonne-kilometre report or the aggregated data relevant for free allocation in the operator’s baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report.
When determining the sampling size and sampling activities for testing the control activities, the verifier shall consider the following elements:
the inherent risks;
the control environment;
the relevant control activities;
the requirement to deliver a verification opinion with reasonable assurance.
When determining the sampling size and sampling activities for sampling the data referred to in point (c) of paragraph 1, the verifier shall consider the following elements:
the inherent risks and control risks;
the results of the analytical procedures;
the requirement to deliver a verification opinion with reasonable assurance;
the materiality level;
the materiality of the contribution of an individual data element for the overall data set.
Article 14
Verification activities
The verifier shall implement the verification plan and, based on the risk analysis, the verifier shall check the implementation of the monitoring plan as approved by the competent authority or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate.
To that end, the verifier shall at least carry out substantive testing consisting of analytical procedures, data verification and checking the monitoring methodology and check the following:
the data flow activities and the systems used in the data flow, including information technology systems;
whether the control activities of the operator or aircraft operator are appropriately documented, implemented, maintained and effective to mitigate the inherent risks;
whether the procedures listed in the monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, are effective to mitigate the inherent risks and control risks and whether the procedures are implemented, sufficiently documented and properly maintained.
For the purposes of point (a) of the second paragraph, the verifier shall track the data flow following the sequence and interaction of the data flow activities from primary source data to the compilation of the operator's or aircraft operator's report.
Article 15
Analytical procedures
In carrying out the analytical procedures referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall assess reported data to identify potential risk areas and to subsequently validate and tailor the planned verification activities. The verifier shall at least:
assess the plausibility of fluctuations and trends over time or between comparable items;
identify immediate outliers, unexpected data and data gaps.
In applying the analytical procedures referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall perform the following procedures:
preliminary analytical procedures on aggregated data before carrying out the activities referred to in Article 14 in order to understand the nature, complexity and relevance of the reported data;
substantive analytical procedures on the aggregated data and the data points underlying these data for the purposes of identifying potential structural errors and immediate outliers;
final analytical procedures on the aggregated data to ensure that all errors identified during the verification process have been resolved correctly.
Based on the explanations and additional evidence provided, the verifier shall assess the impact on the verification plan and the verification activities to be performed.
Article 16
Data verification
As part of the data verification referred to in paragraph 1 and taking into account the approved monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, including the procedures described in that plan, the verifier shall check:
for the purposes of verifying an operator's emission report, the boundaries of an installation;
for the purposes of verifying an operator’s baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report, the boundaries of an installation and its sub-installations;
for the purposes of verifying an operator’s emission report, baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report, the completeness of source streams and emission sources as described in the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate;
for the purposes of verifying an aircraft operator's emission report and tonne-kilometre report, the completeness of flights covered by an aviation activity listed in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC for which the aircraft operator is responsible as well as the completeness of emission data and tonne-kilometre data respectively;
for the purposes of verifying an aircraft operator's emission report and tonne-kilometre report, the consistency between reported data and mass and balance documentation;
for the purposes of verifying an aircraft operator's emission report, the consistency between aggregated fuel consumption and data on fuel purchased or otherwise supplied to the aircraft performing the aviation activity;
for the purposes of verifying an annual activity level report, the accuracy of the parameters listed in Articles 16(5), 19, 20, 21 or 22 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 as well as data required under paragraphs 1, 2 and 4 of Article 6 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842;
the consistency of the aggregated reported data in an operator's or aircraft operator's report with primary source data;
where an operator applies a measurement-based methodology referred to in Article 21(1) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, the measured values using the results of the calculations performed by the operator in accordance with Article 46 of that Implementing Regulation;
the reliability and accuracy of the data.
Article 17
Verification of the correct application of the monitoring methodology
►M1 For the purposes of verifying the operator’s baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report, the verifier shall check whether the methodology for collecting and monitoring data defined in the monitoring methodology plan is applied in the correct way, including: ◄
whether all data on emissions, inputs, outputs and energy flows are attributed correctly to the sub-installations in line with the system boundaries as referred to in Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
whether data are complete and whether data gaps or double counting have occurred;
whether activity levels for product benchmarks are based on a correct application of the product definitions listed in Annex I to Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
whether activity levels for the heat benchmark sub-installations, the district heating sub-installation, the fuel benchmark sub-installations and the process emissions sub-installations have been correctly attributed according to the products produced and pursuant to delegated acts adopted pursuant to Article 10b(5) of Directive 2003/87/EC;
whether the energy consumption has been correctly attributed to each sub-installation where applicable;
whether the value of the parameters listed in Articles 16(5), 19, 20, 21 or 22 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 is based on a correct application of that Regulation;
for the purposes of verifying an annual activity level report and a new entrant data report, the date of start of normal operation as referred to in Article 5(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331;
for the purposes of verifying an annual activity level report, whether the parameters listed in points 2.3 to 2.7 of Annex IV to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331, as appropriate to the installation, have been monitored and reported in the correct way in accordance with the monitoring methodology plan.
Where the differences between the measured values at both installations cannot be explained by the uncertainty of the measurement systems, the verifier shall check whether adjustments were made to align the differences between the measured values, whether those adjustments were conservative and whether the competent authority has granted approval for those adjustments.
▼M1 —————
Article 18
Verification of methods applied for missing data
If the operator or aircraft operator has obtained an approval by the competent authority to use other methods than those referred to in the first subparagraph in accordance with Article 66 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, the verifier shall check whether the approved approach has been applied correctly and appropriately documented.
Where an operator or an aircraft operator is not able to obtain such approval in time, the verifier shall check whether the approach used by the operator or aircraft operator to complete the missing data ensures that the emissions are not underestimated and that this approach does not lead to material misstatements.
Where no applicable data gap method is laid down in the monitoring methodology plan, the verifier shall check whether the approach used by the operator to compensate for the missing data is based on reasonable evidence and ensures that the data required by Annex IV to Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Article 3(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 are not underestimated or overestimated.
Article 19
Uncertainty assessment
Where an operator applies a monitoring methodology not based on tiers, as referred to in Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, the verifier shall check the following:
whether an assessment and quantification of the uncertainty has been carried out by the operator demonstrating that the required overall uncertainty threshold for the annual level of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to point (c) of Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 has been met;
the validity of the information used for the assessment and quantification of the uncertainty;
whether the overall approach used for the assessment and the quantification of the uncertainty is in accordance with point (b) of Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
whether evidence is provided that the conditions for the monitoring methodology referred to in point (a) of Article 22 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 have been met.
Article 20
Sampling
Article 21
Site visits
Article 22
Addressing misstatements, non-conformities and non-compliance
The operator or aircraft operator shall correct any communicated misstatements or non-conformities.
Where a non-compliance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 has been identified, the operator or aircraft operator shall notify the competent authority and correct the non-compliance as appropriate without undue delay.
The verifier shall determine whether the uncorrected misstatements, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, have a material effect on the total reported emissions, tonne-kilometre data or data relevant for free allocation. In assessing the materiality of misstatements the verifier shall consider the size and nature of the misstatement as well as the particular circumstances of their occurrence.
The verifier shall assess whether the uncorrected non-conformity, individually or when combined with other non-conformities, has an impact on the reported data and whether this leads to material misstatement.
If the operator or aircraft operator does not correct the non-compliance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 in accordance with paragraph 1 before the verifier issues the verification report, the verifier shall assess whether the uncorrected non-compliance has an impact on the reported data and whether this leads to material misstatement.
The verifier may consider misstatements as material even if those misstatements, individually or when aggregated with other misstatements, are below the materiality level set out in Article 23, where such consideration is justified by the size and nature of the misstatements and the particular circumstances of their occurrence.
Article 23
Materiality level
For the purposes of verifying emission reports, the materiality level shall be 5 % of the total reported emissions in the reporting period which is subject to verification, for any of the following:
category A installations referred to in Article 19(2)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 and category B installations referred to in Article 19(2)(b) of that Implementing Regulation;
aircraft operators with annual emissions equal to or less than 500 kilotonnes of fossil CO2.
For the purposes of verifying emissions reports the materiality level shall be 2 % of the total reported emissions in the reporting period which is subject to verification, for any of the following:
category C installations referred to in Article 19(2)(c) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
aircraft operators with annual emissions of more than 500 kilotonnes of fossil CO2.
►M1 For the purposes of verifying baseline data report, new entrant data reports or annual activity level reports, the materiality level shall be 5 % of the total reported value of the following: ◄
the installation's total emissions, where the data relate to emissions;
the sum of imports and production of net measurable heat, if relevant, where the data relate to measurable heat data;
the sum of the amounts of waste gases imported and produced within the installation, if relevant;
the activity level of each relevant product benchmark sub-installation individually.
Article 24
Concluding on the findings of verification
When completing the verification and considering the information obtained during the verification, the verifier shall:
check the final data from the operator or aircraft operator, including data that have been adjusted based upon information obtained during the verification;
review the operator's or aircraft operator's reasons for any differences between the final data and data previously provided;
review the outcome of the assessment to determine whether the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, including the procedures described in that plan, has been implemented correctly;
assess whether the verification risk is at an acceptably low level to obtain reasonable assurance;
ensure that sufficient evidence has been gathered to be able to give a verification opinion with reasonable assurance that the report is free from material misstatements;
ensure that the verification process is fully documented in the internal verification documentation and that a final judgment in the verification report can be given.
Article 25
Independent review
The independent reviewer shall perform the review so as to ensure that the verification process is conducted in accordance with this Regulation, that the procedures for verification activities referred to in Article 41 have been correctly carried out, and that due professional care and judgment has been applied.
The independent reviewer shall also assess whether the evidence gathered is sufficient to enable the verifier to issue a verification report with reasonable assurance.
Article 26
Internal verification documentation
The verifier shall prepare and compile internal verification documentation containing at least:
the results of the verification activities performed;
the strategic analysis, risk analysis and verification plan;
sufficient information to support the verification opinion, including justifications for judgments made on whether or not the misstatements identified have material effect on the reported emissions, tonne-kilometre data or data relevant for free allocation.
After authentication of the verification report pursuant to Article 25(5), the verifier shall include results of the independent review in the internal verification documentation.
Article 27
Verification report
►M1 Based on the information collected during the verification, the verifier shall issue a verification report to the operator or aircraft operator on each emission report, tonne-kilometre report, baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report that was subject to verification. ◄
the report is verified as satisfactory;
the operator's or aircraft operator's report contains material misstatements that were not corrected before issuing the verification report;
the scope of verification is too limited pursuant to Article 28 and the verifier could not obtain sufficient evidence to issue a verification opinion with reasonable assurance that the report is free from material misstatements;
non-conformities, individually or combined with other non-conformities, provide insufficient clarity and prevent the verifier from stating with reasonable assurance that the operator's or aircraft operator's report is free from material misstatements;
where the monitoring methodology plan is not subject to the approval of the competent authority, non-compliance with Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ provide insufficient clarity and prevent the verifier from stating with reasonable assurance that the baseline data report or new entrant data report is free from material misstatements.
For the purposes of point (a) of the first subparagraph, the operator's or aircraft operator's report may be verified as satisfactory only where the operator's or aircraft operator's report is free from material misstatements.
The verification report shall at least contain the following elements:
the name of the operator or aircraft operator that was subject to verification;
the objectives of the verification;
the scope of the verification;
a reference to the operator's or aircraft operator's report that has been verified;
the criteria used to verify the operator's or aircraft operator's report, including the permit, where applicable, and versions of the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, as well as the period of validity for each plan;
in the case of verification of the baseline report required for allocation for the period 2021-2025, and the competent authority has not required the monitoring methodology plan to be approved, confirmation that the verifier has checked the monitoring methodology plan and that this plan is compliant with Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
where it concerns the verification of the operator's or aircraft operator's emission report, aggregated emissions or tonne-kilometres per activity referred to in Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC and per installation or aircraft operator;
where it concerns the verification of the baseline data report or new entrant data report, aggregated annual verified data for each year in the baseline period for each sub-installation for the annual activity level and the emissions attributed to the sub-installation;
where it concerns the verification of the annual activity level report, aggregated annual verified data for each year in the activity level reporting period for each sub-installation for its annual activity level;
the reporting period, the baseline period or the activity level reporting period subject to verification;
the responsibilities of the operator or aircraft operator, the competent authority and the verifier;
the verification opinion statement;
a description of any identified misstatements and non-conformities that were not corrected before the issuance of the verification report;
the dates on which site visits were carried out and by whom;
information on whether any site visits were waived as well as the reasons for waiving these site visits;
any issues of non-compliance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 which have become apparent during the verification;
if approval by the competent authority cannot be obtained in time for the method used to complete the data gap pursuant to the last subparagraph of Article 18(1), a confirmation whether the method used is conservative and whether it does or does not lead to material misstatements;
a statement if the method used to complete any data gap pursuant to Article 12 of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ leads to material misstatements;
▼M1 —————
where the verifier has observed relevant changes to the parameters listed in Articles 16(5), 19, 20, 21 or 22 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or changes in the energy efficiency pursuant to paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 6 of Implementing Regulation 2019/1842, a description of those changes and related remarks;
where applicable, confirmation that the date of start of normal operation as referred to in Article 5(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 has been checked;
recommendations for improvements, where applicable;
the names of the EU ETS lead auditor, the independent reviewer and, where applicable, the EU ETS auditor and the technical expert that were involved in the verification of the operator's or aircraft operator's report;
the date and signature by an authorised person on behalf of the verifier, including his name.
►M1 The verifier shall describe the misstatements, non-conformities and non-compliance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 in sufficient detail in the verification report to allow the operator or aircraft operator as well as the competent authority to understand the following: ◄
the size and nature of the misstatement, non-conformity or non-compliance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842;
why the misstatement has material effect, or not;
to which element of the operator's or aircraft operator's report the misstatement refers, or to what element of the monitoring plan or the monitoring methodology plan the non-conformity refers;
to which Article in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 or Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 the non-compliance relates.
Article 28
Limitation of scope
The verifier may conclude that the scope of the verification referred to in Article 27(1)(c) is too limited in any of the following situations:
data are missing that prevent a verifier from obtaining the evidence required to reduce the verification risk to the level needed to obtain reasonable level of assurance;
the monitoring plan is not approved by the competent authority;
the monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan, as appropriate, does not provide sufficient scope or clarity to conclude on the verification;
the operator or aircraft operator has failed to make sufficient information available to enable the verifier to carry out the verification;
where Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ or the Member State required approval of the monitoring methodology plan by the competent authority prior to submission of the baseline data report and that plan has not been approved by the competent authority before the start of verification.
Article 29
Addressing outstanding non-material non-conformities
If the operator or aircraft operator has not corrected those non-conformities pursuant to Article 69(4) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, the verifier shall consider whether the omission increases or may increase the risk of misstatements.
The verifier shall report in the verification report whether those non-conformities have been resolved by the operator or aircraft operator.
If the operator has not corrected those non-conformities, the verifier shall consider whether the omission increases or may increase the risk of misstatements.
The verifier shall report in the verification report whether those non-conformities have been resolved by the operator.
Article 30
Improvement of the monitoring and reporting process
Where the verifier has identified areas for improvement in the operator's or aircraft operator's performance related to points (a) to (e) of this paragraph, it shall include in the verification report recommendations for improvement related to the operator's or aircraft operator's performance on those points:
the operator's or aircraft operator's risk assessment;
the development, documentation, implementation and maintenance of data flow activities and control activities as well as the evaluation of the control system;
the development, documentation, implementation and maintenance of procedures for data flow activities and control activities as well as other procedures that an operator or aircraft operator has to establish pursuant to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or Article 11(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ ;
the monitoring and reporting of emissions or tonne kilometres, including in relation to achieving higher tiers, reducing risks and enhancing efficiency in the monitoring and reporting;
the monitoring and reporting of data for baseline data reports, new entrant data reports and annual activity level reports.
Where the operator or aircraft operator has not implemented those recommendations or has not implemented them correctly, the verifier shall assess the impact this has on the risk of misstatements and non-conformities.
Article 31
Simplified verification for installations
The operator shall submit an application to the competent authority requesting the competent authority to approve the verifier's decision not to carry out the site visit.
On an application submitted by the operator concerned, the competent authority shall decide whether to approve the verifier's decision not to carry out the site visit, taking into consideration all of the following elements:
the information provided by the verifier on the outcome of the risk analysis;
information that the relevant data can be remotely accessed;
evidence that the requirements laid down in paragraph 3 are not applicable to the installation;
evidence that the conditions for not carrying out the site visits are met.
The verifier shall always carry out site visits in the following situations:
when an operator’s emission report or annual activity level report is verified for the first time by the verifier;
for the purposes of verifying the operator’s emission report, if a verifier has not carried out a site visit in two reporting periods immediately preceding the current reporting period;
for the purposes of verifying the operator’s annual activity level report, if a verifier has not carried out a site visit during the verification of an annual activity level report or a baseline data report in the two activity level reporting periods immediately preceding the current activity level reporting period;
if, during the reporting period, there have been significant modifications of the monitoring plan including those referred to in Article 15(3) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
if, during the activity level reporting period, there have been significant changes to the installation or its sub-installations which require significant modifications to the monitoring methodology plan, including those changes referred to in Article 9(5) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331;
if an operator's baseline data report or new entrant data report is verified.
Article 32
Conditions for not carrying out site visits
The conditions for not carrying out site visits referred to in Article 31(1) are any of the following:
►M1 the verification of an operator’s emission report concerns a category A installation referred to in Article 19(2)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or a category B installation referred to in Article 19(2)(b) of that Implementing Regulation whereby: ◄
the installation has only one source stream as referred to in Article 19(3)(c) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 which is natural gas, or one or more de minimis source streams which aggregated do not exceed the threshold for de minimis source streams laid down in Article 19 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
the natural gas is monitored through fiscal metering which is subject to an appropriate legal regime for the control of fiscal meters and meets the required uncertainty levels related to the applicable tier;
only default values for the calculation factors of natural gas are applied;
►M1 the verification of an operator’s emission report concerns a category A installation referred to in Article 19(2)(a) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or a category B installation referred to in Article 19(2)(b) of that Implementing Regulation whereby: ◄
the installation has only one source stream which is a fuel without process emissions, and that fuel is either a solid fuel directly combusted in the installation without intermediate storage, or a liquid or gaseous fuel for which there may be intermediate storage;
the activity data related to the source stream is monitored by using one of the following methods:
fiscal metering method which is subject to an appropriate legal regime for the control of fiscal meters and meets the required uncertainty levels related to the applicable tier;
method based solely on invoice data taking into account stock changes if relevant;
only default values for calculation factors are applied;
the competent authority has allowed the installation to use a simplified monitoring plan in accordance with Article 13 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066;
the verification of an operator’s emission report concerns an installation with low emissions as referred to in Article 47(2) of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 and paragraphs (a) to (c) of point (2) are applicable;
the verification of an operator’s annual activity level report concerns an installation as referred to in point 1, 2 or 3 whereby:
that installation has no other sub-installation than one sub-installation to which a product benchmark pursuant to Article 10(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 is applicable; and
the production data relevant for the product benchmark has been evaluated as part of an audit for financial accounting purposes and the operator provides evidence thereof;
the verification of an operator’s annual activity level report concerns an installation as referred to in point 1, 2 or 3 whereby:
the installation has a maximum of two sub-installations;
the second sub-installation contributes less than 5 % to the installation’s total final allocation of allowances; and
the verifier has sufficient data available to assess the split of sub-installations if relevant;
the verification of an operator’s annual activity level report concerns an installation as referred to in point 1, 2 or 3 whereby:
the installation has only heat benchmark or district heating sub-installations; and
the verifier has sufficient data available to assess the split of sub-installations if relevant;
►M1 the verification of the operator’s emission report or annual activity level report concerns an installation located on an unmanned site whereby: ◄
telemetered data from the unmanned site is sent directly to another location where all data is processed, managed and stored;
the same person is responsible for all data management and recording for the site;
the meters have already been inspected on site by the operator or a laboratory in accordance with Article 60 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or Article 11 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 and a signed document or date-stamped photographic evidence provided by the operator demonstrates that no metering or operational changes have occurred at the installation since that inspection;
►M1 the verification of the operator’s emission report or annual activity level report concerns an installation located on a remote or inaccessible site, in particular an off-shore installation, whereby: ◄
there is a high level of centralisation of data collected from that site and transmitted directly to another location where all the data is processed, managed and stored with good quality assurance;
the meters have already been inspected on site by the operator or a laboratory in accordance with Article 60 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 or Article 11 of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 and a signed document or date-stamped photographic evidence provided by the operator demonstrates that no metering or operational changes have occurred at the installation since that inspection.
Point (2) may also be applied if, in addition to the source stream as referred to in point (a) of that point, the installation uses one or more de minimis source streams which aggregated do not exceed the threshold for de minimis source streams laid down in Article 19 of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066.
Point (3a)(b) must be applied if the sub-installation contributing 95 % or more to the installation’s total final allocation of allowances as referred to in point (3b)(b) is a sub-installation to which a product benchmark pursuant to Article 10(2) of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 is applicable.
Article 33
Simplified verification for aircraft operators
Article 34
Simplified verification plans
Where a verifier uses a simplified verification plan, the verifier shall keep a record of justifications for using such plans in the internal verification documentation, including evidence that the conditions for using simplified verification plans have been met.
Article 34a
Virtual site visits
The verifier shall take measures to reduce the verification risk to an acceptable level to obtain reasonable assurance that the operator’s or aircraft operator’s report is free from material misstatements. A physical visit to the site of the installation or aircraft operator shall be carried out without undue delay.
The decision to carry out a virtual site visit shall be based on the outcome of the risk analysis and after determining that the conditions for carrying out a virtual site visit are met. The verifier shall inform the operator or aircraft operator thereof without undue delay.
The operator or aircraft operator shall submit an application to the competent authority requesting the competent authority to approve the verifier’s decision to carry out a virtual site visit. The application shall include the following elements:
evidence that it is not possible to carry out a physical site visit because of the serious, extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances, outside the control of the operator or aircraft operator;
information on how the virtual site visit will be carried out;
the information on the outcome of the risk analysis by the verifier;
evidence of the measures taken by the verifier to reduce the verification risk to an acceptable level to obtain reasonable assurance that the operator’s or aircraft operator’s report is free from material misstatements.
By way of derogation from paragraph 3, where a large number of installations or aircraft operators are affected by the similar serious, extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances, outside the control of the operator or aircraft operator, and immediate action is needed because of legally imposed national health reasons, the competent authority may authorise verifiers to carry out virtual site visits without a need for an individual approval referred to in paragraph 3 provided that:
the competent authority has established that there are serious extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances, outside the control of the operator or aircraft operator and immediate action is needed because of legally imposed national health reasons;
the operator or aircraft operator informs the competent authority about the verifier’s decision to carry out a virtual site visit, including the elements specified in paragraph 2.
The competent authority shall review the information provided by the operator or aircraft operator in accordance with point (b) during the assessment of the operator’s or aircraft operator’s report and inform the national accreditation body about the outcome of the assessment.
CHAPTER III
REQUIREMENTS FOR VERIFIERS
Article 35
Sectoral scopes of accreditation
The verifier shall only issue a verification report to an operator or aircraft operator that performs an activity that is covered by the scope of the activity referred to in Annex I for which the verifier has been granted accreditation according to the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 and this Regulation.
Article 36
Continued competence process
As part of the competence process referred to in paragraph 1, the verifier shall at least determine, document, implement and maintain the following:
general competence criteria for all personnel undertaking verification activities;
specific competence criteria for each function within the verifier undertaking verification activities, in particular for the EU ETS auditor, EU ETS lead auditor, independent reviewer and technical expert;
a method to ensure the continued competence and regular evaluation of the performance of all personnel that undertake verification activities;
a process for ensuring ongoing training of the personnel undertaking verification activities;
a process for assessing whether the verification engagement falls within the scope of the verifier's accreditation, and whether the verifier has the competence, personnel and resources required to select the verification team and successfully complete the verification activities within the timeframe required.
The competence criteria referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph shall be specific for each scope of accreditation in which these persons are carrying out verification activities.
In evaluating the competence of the personnel pursuant to point (c) of the first subparagraph, the verifier shall assess that competence against the competence criteria referred to in points (a) and (b).
The process referred to in point (e) of the first subparagraph shall also include a process for assessing whether the verification team holds all the competence and persons required to carry out verification activities for a specific operator or aircraft operator.
The verifier shall develop general and specific competence criteria which are in conformity with the criteria laid down in Article 37(4) and Articles 38, 39 and 40.
The verifier shall regularly review the competence process referred to in paragraph 1 to ensure that:
the competence criteria referred to in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 are developed in accordance with the competence requirements under this Regulation;
all issues that may be identified related to the setting of the general and specific competence criteria pursuant to points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 are addressed;
all the requirements in the competence process are updated and maintained as appropriate.
The competent evaluator shall monitor those auditors during the verification of the operator's or aircraft operator's report on the site of the installation or aircraft operator as appropriate, to determine whether they meet the competence criteria.
Article 37
Verification teams
Each team member shall:
have a clear understanding of their individual role in the verification process;
be able to communicate effectively in the language necessary to perform their specific tasks.
Where the verifier is carrying out verification of baseline data reports, new entrant data reports or annual activity level reports the verification team shall include in addition at least one person with the technical competence and understanding required to assess the specific technical aspects regarding the collection, monitoring and reporting of data relevant for free allocation.
Article 38
Competence requirements for EU ETS auditors and EU ETS lead auditors
An EU ETS auditor shall have the competence to perform the verification. To this end, the EU ETS auditor shall have at least:
knowledge of Directive 2003/87/EC, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 in the case of verification of the baseline data report, new entrant data report or annual activity level report, this Regulation, relevant standards, and other relevant legislation, applicable guidelines, as well as relevant guidelines and legislation issued by the Member State in which the verifier is carrying out a verification;
knowledge and experience of data and information auditing, including:
data and information auditing methodologies, including the application of the materiality level and assessing the materiality of misstatements;
analysing inherent risks and control risks;
sampling techniques in relation to data sampling and checking the control activities;
assessing data and information systems, IT systems, data flow activities, control activities, control systems and procedures for control activities.
the ability to perform the activities related to the verification of an operator's or aircraft operator's report as required by Chapter II;
knowledge of and experience in the sector specific technical monitoring and reporting aspects that are relevant for the scope of activities referred to in Annex I in which the EU ETS auditor is carrying out verification.
Article 39
Competence requirements for independent reviewers
Article 40
Use of technical experts
Article 41
Procedures for verification activities
A verifier shall design, document, implement and maintain a management system in accordance with the harmonised standard referred to in Annex II to ensure consistent development, implementation, improvement and review of the procedures and processes referred to in paragraph 1. The management system shall include at least the following:
policies and responsibilities;
management review;
internal audits;
corrective action;
actions to address risk and opportunities and to take preventive action;
control of documented information.
Article 42
Records and communication
Article 43
Impartiality and independence
To ensure independence and impartiality, the verifier and any part of the same legal entity shall not be an operator or aircraft operator, the owner of an operator or aircraft operator or owned by them, nor shall the verifier have relations with the operator or aircraft operator that could affect its independence and impartiality. The verifier shall also be independent from bodies that trade emission allowances under the greenhouse gas emission allowances trading system established pursuant to Article 19 of Directive 2003/87/EC.
An unacceptable risk to impartiality or a conflict of interest referred to in the first sentence of the first subparagraph shall be considered to have arisen in particular in either of the following cases:
where a verifier or any part of the same legal entity provides consulting services to develop part of the monitoring and reporting process that is described in the monitoring plan approved by the competent authority or in the monitoring methodology plan, as applicable, including the development of the monitoring methodology, the drafting of the operator's or aircraft operator's report and the drafting of the monitoring plan or monitoring methodology plan;
where a verifier or any part of the same legal entity provides technical assistance to develop or maintain the system implemented to monitor and report emissions, tonne-kilometre data or data relevant for free allocation.
A conflict of interest for a verifier in the relations between it and an operator or an aircraft operator shall be considered to have arisen in particular in either of the following cases:
where the relationship between the verifier and the operator or aircraft operator is based on common ownership, common governance, common management or personnel, shared resources, common finances and common contracts or marketing;
where the operator or aircraft operator has received consulting services referred to in point (a) of paragraph 3 or technical assistance referred to in point (b) of that paragraph from a consultancy body, technical assistance body or another organisation having relations with the verifier and threatening the impartiality of the verifier.
For the purposes of point (b) of the first subparagraph, the verifier's impartiality shall be considered compromised where the relations between the verifier and the consultancy body, technical assistance body or the other organisation is based on common ownership, common governance, common management or personnel, shared resources, common finances, common contracts or marketing and common payment of sales commission or other inducement for the referral of new clients.
However, contracting individuals to carry out verification activities shall not constitute outsourcing for the purposes of the first subparagraph if the verifier, when contracting those persons, takes full responsibility for the verification activities performed by contracted personnel. When contracting individuals for carrying out verification activities the verifier shall require these individuals to sign a written agreement that they comply with the procedures of the verifier and that there is no conflict of interest in carrying out these verification activities.
CHAPTER IV
ACCREDITATION
Article 44
Accreditation
A verifier issuing a verification report to an operator or an aircraft operator shall be accredited for the scope of activities referred to in Annex I for which the verifier is carrying out the verification of an operator's or aircraft operator's report.
For the purpose of verifying baseline data reports, new entrant data reports or annual activity level reports, a verifier issuing a verification report to an operator shall in addition be accredited for activity group No 98 referred to in Annex I.
Article 45
Objectives of accreditation
During the accreditation process and the monitoring of accredited verifiers, each national accreditation body shall assess whether the verifier and its personnel undertaking verification activities:
have the competence to carry out the verification of operator's or aircraft operator's reports in accordance with this Regulation;
are performing the verification of operator's or aircraft operator's reports in accordance with this Regulation;
meet the requirements referred to in Chapter III.
Article 46
Request for accreditation
The request shall contain the information required on the basis of the harmonised standard referred to in Annex III.
In addition to the information referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, an applicant shall also, prior to the commencement of the assessment pursuant to Article 45, make available to the national accreditation body the following:
all information requested by the national accreditation body;
procedures and information concerning processes referred to in Article 41(1) and the information on the quality management system referred to in Article 41(2);
the competence criteria referred to in Article 36(2)(a) and (b), the results of the competence process referred to in Article 36 as well as other relevant documentation on the competence of all personnel involved in verification activities;
information on the process for ensuring continuous impartiality and independence referred to in Article 43(6), including relevant records on the impartiality and independence of the applicant and its personnel;
information on the technical experts and key personnel involved in the verification of operator's or aircraft operator's reports;
the system and process for ensuring appropriate internal verification documentation;
other relevant records referred to in Article 42(1).
Article 47
Preparation for assessment
Article 48
Assessment
The assessment team referred to in Article 58 shall carry out at least the following activities for the purposes of making the assessment referred to in Article 45:
a review of all relevant documents and records referred to in Article 46;
a visit of the premises of the applicant to review a representative sample of the internal verification documentation and to assess the implementation of the applicant's quality management system and the procedures or processes referred to in Article 41;
witnessing of a representative part of the requested scope for accreditation and the performance and competence of a representative number of the applicant's staff involved in the verification of the operator's or aircraft operator's report to ensure that the staff are operating in accordance with this Regulation.
In carrying out those activities, the assessment team shall meet the requirements set out in the harmonised standard referred to in Annex III.
Where the national accreditation body finds the response of the applicant to be insufficient or ineffective, it shall request further information or action from the applicant. The national accreditation body may also request evidence of the effective implementation of actions taken or carry out a follow-up assessment to assess the effective implementation of the corrective actions.
Article 49
Decision on accreditation and accreditation certificate
The accreditation certificate shall at least contain the information required on the basis of the harmonised standard referred to in Annex III.
The accreditation certificate shall be valid for a period not exceeding five years after the date on which the national accreditation body has issued that certificate.
Article 50
Surveillance
The surveillance shall at least comprise the following:
a visit to the premises of the verifier with a view to carrying out the activities referred to Article 48(1)(b);
witnessing the performance and competence of a representative number of the verifier's staff in accordance with Article 48(1)(c).
Article 51
Reassessment
Article 52
Extraordinary assessment
Article 53
Extension of scope
The national accreditation body shall, in response to an application by a verifier for an extension of the scope of a granted accreditation, undertake the necessary activities to determine whether the verifier meets the requirements of Article 45 for the requested extension of the scope of its accreditation.
Article 54
Administrative measures
The national accreditation body shall suspend, withdraw or reduce an accreditation of a verifier if the verifier so requests.
The national accreditation body shall establish, document, implement and maintain a procedure for the suspension of the accreditation, the withdrawal of the accreditation and the reduction of the scope of accreditation.
The national accreditation body shall suspend an accreditation, or restrict the scope of an accreditation in any of the following cases:
the verifier has committed a serious breach of the requirements of this Regulation;
the verifier has persistently and repeatedly failed to meet the requirements of this Regulation;
the verifier has breached other specific terms and conditions of the national accreditation body.
The national accreditation body shall withdraw the accreditation in the following cases:
the verifier has failed to remedy the grounds for a decision to suspend the accreditation certificate;
a member of the top management of the verifier or a verifier's staff involved in verification activities under this Regulation has been found guilty of fraud;
the verifier has intentionally provided false information or concealed information.
Member States shall establish procedures for the resolution of those appeals.
The national accreditation body shall terminate the suspension of an accreditation certificate where it has received satisfactory information and is confident that the verifier meets the requirements of this Regulation.
CHAPTER V
REQUIREMENTS CONCERNING ACCREDITATION BODIES FOR THE ACCREDITATION OF ETS VERIFIERS
Article 55
National accreditation body
Article 56
Cross-border accreditation
Where a Member State considers that it is economically not meaningful or sustainable to appoint a national accreditation body or to provide accreditation services within the meaning of Article 15 of Directive 2003/87/EC, that Member State shall have recourse to a national accreditation body of another Member State.
The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission and the other Member States.
Article 57
Independence and impartiality
However, the national accreditation body may sub-contract certain activities, subject to the requirements set out in the harmonised standard referred to in Annex III.
Article 58
Assessment team
The assessment team shall include at least one person with the knowledge of the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 that are relevant for the scope of accreditation and the competence and understanding required to assess the verification activities within the installation or aircraft operator for that scope, and at least one person with the knowledge of relevant national legislation and guidance.
Where the national accreditation body assesses the verifier's competence and performance for scope no 98 referred to in Annex I of this Regulation, the assessment team shall include in addition at least one person with the knowledge of collecting, monitoring and reporting data relevant for free allocation pursuant to Delegated Regulation (EU) ►M1 2019/331 ◄ as well as the competence and understanding required to assess the verification activities for that scope.
Article 59
Competence requirements for assessors
An assessor shall have the competence to carry out the activities required under Chapter IV when assessing the verifier. To that end, the assessor shall:
meet the requirements laid down in the harmonised standard pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 referred to in Annex III;
have knowledge of Directive 2003/87/EC, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 and Implementing Regulation 2019/1842 where the assessor assesses the verifier’s competence and performance for scope no 98 referred to in Annex I of this Regulation, this Regulation, relevant standards and other relevant legislation as well as applicable guidelines;
have knowledge of data and information auditing referred to in Article 38(1)(b) of this Regulation obtained through training or access to a person that has knowledge and experience of such data and information.
Article 60
Technical experts
A technical expert shall have the competence required to support the lead assessor and assessor effectively on the subject matter for which knowledge and expertise of such expert is requested. In addition, the technical expert shall:
have knowledge of Directive 2003/87/EC, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 and Implementing Regulation 2019/1842 where the technical expert assesses the verifier’s competence and performance for scope no 98 referred to in Annex I of this Regulation, this Regulation, relevant standards, and other relevant legislation as well as applicable guidelines;
have a sufficient understanding of verification activities.
Article 61
Procedures
The national accreditation body shall comply with the requirements established pursuant to Article 8 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
Article 62
Complaints
Where the national accreditation body has received a complaint concerning the verifier from the competent authority, the operator or aircraft operator, or other interested parties, the national accreditation body shall, within a reasonable time but no later than three months from the date of its receipt:
decide on the validity of the complaint;
ensure that the verifier concerned is given the opportunity to submit its observations;
take appropriate actions to address the complaint;
record the complaint and action taken; and
respond to the complainant.
Article 63
Records and documentation
Article 64
Access to information and confidentiality
Article 65
Peer evaluation
The peer evaluation shall be organised by the body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
The body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall implement appropriate peer evaluation criteria and an effective and independent peer evaluation process in order to assess whether:
the national accreditation body that is subject to the peer evaluation has carried out the accreditation activities in accordance with Chapter IV;
the national accreditation body that is subject to the peer evaluation has met the requirements laid down in this Chapter.
The criteria shall include competence requirements for peer evaluators and peer evaluation teams that are specific to the system for greenhouse gas emission allowances trading established by Directive 2003/87/EC.
To that end, the national accreditation body concerned shall submit a request and the necessary documentation to the body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008.
The body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall decide whether the conditions for granting an exemption have been met.
The exemption shall apply for a period not exceeding three years from the date of notification of the decision to the national accreditation body.
To that end, the Member State concerned shall, immediately following its decisions authorising the national authority to perform certification, provide the Commission and the other Member States with all relevant documentary evidence. No national authority shall certify verifiers for the purposes of this Regulation before the Member State concerned provides that documentary evidence.
The Member State concerned shall periodically review the functioning of the national authority to ensure that it continues to meet the aforementioned level of credibility and shall inform the Commission thereof.
Article 66
Corrective action
Article 67
Mutual recognition of verifiers
Article 68
Monitoring of services delivered
Where a Member State has established, in the course of an inspection carried out in accordance with Article 31(4) of Directive 2006/123/EC, that a verifier is not complying with this Regulation, the competent authority or national accreditation body of that Member State shall inform the national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier.
The national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier shall consider the communication of that information as a complaint within the meaning of Article 62 and shall take appropriate action and respond to the competent authority or the national accreditation body in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 73(2).
Article 69
Electronic data exchange and use of automated systems
CHAPTER VI
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
Article 70
Information exchange and focal points
Article 71
Accreditation work programme and management report
By 31 December of each year, the national accreditation body shall make available an accreditation work programme to the competent authority of each Member State containing the list of verifiers accredited by that national accreditation body and which have notified it pursuant to Article 77 that they intend to carry out verifications in those Member States. The accreditation work programme shall at least contain the following information in relation to each verifier:
the anticipated time and place of the verification;
information on activities that the national accreditation body has planned for that verifier, in particular surveillance and reassessment activities;
dates of anticipated witnessing audits to be performed by the national accreditation body to assess the verifier, including the address and contact details of operators or aircraft operators that will be visited during the witness audit;
information on whether the national accreditation body has requested the national accreditation body from the Member State in which the verifier is performing the verification to carry out surveillance activities.
Where changes occur in the information referred to in the first subparagraph, the national accreditation body shall submit to the competent authority an updated work programme by 31 January of each year.
By 1 June of each year, the national accreditation body shall make available a management report to the competent authority. The management report shall at least contain the following information in relation to each verifier that has been accredited by that national accreditation body:
accreditation details of verifiers that were newly accredited by that national accreditation body, including the scope of accreditation for these verifiers
any changes to the scope of accreditation for these verifiers;
summarised results of surveillance and reassessment activities carried out by the national accreditation body;
summarised results of extraordinary assessments that have taken place, including reasons for initiating such extraordinary assessments;
any complaints filed against the verifier since the last management report and the actions taken by the national accreditation body;
details of action taken by the national accreditation body in response to the information that is shared by the competent authority, unless the national accreditation body has considered the information as a complaint within the meaning of Article 62.
Article 72
Information exchange on administrative measures
If the national accreditation body has imposed administrative measures on the verifier pursuant to Article 54 or if a suspension of the accreditation has been terminated or a decision on appeal has reversed the decision of a national accreditation body to impose administrative measures referred to in Article 54, the national accreditation body shall inform the following parties:
the competent authority of the Member State where the verifier is accredited;
the competent authority and the national accreditation body of each Member State where the verifier is carrying out verifications.
Article 73
Information exchange by the competent authority
The competent authority of the Member State where the verifier is carrying out the verification shall annually communicate to the national accreditation body which has accredited that verifier at least the following:
relevant results from checking the operator's and aircraft operator's report and the verification reports, in particular of any identified non-compliance of that verifier with this Regulation;
results from the inspection of the operator or aircraft operator where those results are relevant for the national accreditation body concerning the verifier's accreditation and surveillance or where those results include any identified non-compliance of that verifier with this Regulation;
results from the evaluation of the internal verification documentation of that verifier where the competent authority has evaluated the internal verification documentation pursuant to Article 26(3);
complaints received by the competent authority concerning that verifier.
The national accreditation body shall take appropriate action to address such information and respond to the competent authority within a reasonable time, but no later than three months from the date of its receipt. The national accreditation body shall inform the competent authority in its response of the action taken by it and, where relevant, the administrative measures imposed on the verifier.
Article 74
Information exchange on surveillance
Where the findings referred to in paragraph 1 show evidence that the verifier is not complying with this Regulation, the national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier shall take appropriate action pursuant to this Regulation and shall inform the national accreditation body that has carried out surveillance activities on:
what action has been taken by the national accreditation body that has accredited the verifier;
where appropriate, how the findings were resolved by the verifier;
where relevant, what administrative measures have been imposed on the verifier.
Article 75
Information exchange with a Member State where the verifier is established
Where a verifier has been granted accreditation by a national accreditation body in a Member State other than the Member State in which the verifier is established, the accreditation work programme and the management report referred to in Article 71, as well as the information referred to in Article 72, shall also be provided to the competent authority of the Member State in which the verifier is established.
Article 76
Databases of accredited verifiers
The body recognised under Article 14 of Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 shall facilitate and harmonise access to the databases to enable efficient and cost-effective communication between national accreditation bodies, national authorities, verifiers, operators, aircraft operators and competent authorities, and may reconcile those databases into a single and centralised database.
The database referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain at least the following information:
the name and address of each verifier accredited by that national accreditation body;
the Member States in which the verifier is carrying out verification;
each verifier's scope of accreditation;
the date on which the accreditation was granted and the expiry date of the accreditation;
any information on administrative measures that have been imposed on the verifier.
The information shall be publicly available.
Article 77
Notification by verifiers
For the purposes of enabling the national accreditation body to draft the accreditation work programme and the management report referred to in Article 71, a verifier shall by 15 November of each year send the following information to the national accreditation body that has accredited that verifier:
the planned time and place of the verifications that the verifier is scheduled to perform;
the address and contact details of the operators or aircraft operators whose emissions, tonne-kilometre reports, baseline data reports, new entrant data reports or annual activity level reports are subject to its verification;
the names of the members of the verification team and the scope of the accreditation under which the operator's or aircraft operator's activity falls.
CHAPTER VII
FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 78
Repeal of Regulation (EU) No 600/2012 and transitional provisions
References to the repealed Regulation shall be construed as references to this Regulation and read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex IV.
Article 79
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 January 2019 or the date of entry into force of this Regulation, whichever is the later.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
ANNEX I
Scope of accreditation for verifiers
The scope of accreditation of verifiers shall be indicated in the accreditation certificate using the following groups of activities pursuant to Annex I to Directive 2003/87/EC and other activities pursuant to Articles 10a and 24 of Directive 2003/87/EC. Those provisions shall equally apply to verifiers certified by a national authority in accordance with Article 55(2) of this Regulation.
Activity Group No. |
Scopes of Accreditation |
1a |
Combustion of fuels in installations, where only commercial standard fuels as defined in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 are used, or where natural gas is used in category A or B installations. |
1b |
Combustion of fuels in installations, without restrictions |
2 |
Refining of mineral oil |
3 |
— Production of coke — Metal ore (including sulphide ore) roasting or sintering, including pelletisation — Production of pig iron or steel (primary or secondary fusion) including continuous casting |
4 |
— Production or processing of ferrous metals (including ferro-alloys) — Production of secondary aluminium — Production or processing of non-ferrous metals, including production of alloys |
5 |
Production of primary aluminium (CO2 and PFC emissions) |
6 |
— Production of cement clinker — Production of lime or calcination of dolomite or magnesite — Manufacture of glass including glass fibre — Manufacture of ceramic products by firing — Manufacture of mineral wool insulation material — Drying or calcination of gypsum or production of plaster boards and other gypsum products |
7 |
— Production of pulp from timber or other fibrous materials — Production of paper or cardboard |
8 |
— Production of carbon black — Production of ammonia — Production of bulk organic chemicals by cracking, reforming, partial or full oxidation or by similar processes — Production of hydrogen (H2) and synthesis gas by reforming or partial oxidation — Production of soda ash (Na2CO3) and sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) |
9 |
— Production of nitric acid (CO2 and N2O emissions) — Production of adipic acid (CO2 and N2O emissions) — Production of glyoxal and glyoxylic acid (CO2 and N2O emissions) |
10 |
— Capture of greenhouse gases from installations covered by Directive 2003/87/EC for the purpose of transport and geological storage in a storage site permitted under Directive 2009/31/EC — Transport of greenhouse gases by pipelines for geological storage in a storage site permitted under Directive 2009/31/EC |
11 |
Geological storage of greenhouse gases in a storage site permitted under Directive 2009/31/EC |
12 |
Aviation activities (emissions and tonne-kilometre data) |
98 |
Other activities pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC |
99 |
Other activities, included by a Member State pursuant to Article 24 of Directive 2003/87/EC, to be specified in detail in the accreditation certificate |
ANNEX II
Requirements on verifiers
With respect to the requirements on verifiers, the harmonised standard pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 concerning requirements for greenhouse gas validation and verification bodies for use in accreditation or other forms of recognition, shall apply. In addition, the following procedures, processes and arrangements referred to in Article 41(1), shall apply:
a process and policy for communication with the operator or aircraft operator and other relevant parties;
adequate arrangements to safeguard the confidentiality of information obtained;
a process for dealing with appeals;
a process for dealing with complaints (including indicative timescale);
a process for issuing a revised verification report where an error in the verification report or operator's or aircraft operator's report has been identified after the verifier has submitted the verification report to the operator or aircraft operator for onwards submission to the competent authority;
a procedure or process for outsourcing verification activities to other organisations;
a procedure or process to ensure that the verifier takes full responsibility for verification activities performed by contracted individuals;
processes ensuring the proper functioning of the management system as referred to in Article 41(2), including:
processes for the review of management system at least once a year, not exceeding 15 months between management reviews;
processes for conducting internal audits at least once a year, not exceeding 15 months between internal audits;
processes for identifying and managing non-conformities in the verifier’s activities and taking corrective action to address those non-conformities;
processes for identifying risks and opportunities in verifier’s activities and taking preventive actions to mitigate those risks;
processes for the control of documented information.
ANNEX III
Minimum requirements of the accreditation process and requirements on accreditation bodies
With respect to the minimum requirements for accreditation, and the requirements for accreditation bodies, the harmonised standard pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 concerning general requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies shall apply.
ANNEX IV
Correlation table
Commission Regulation (EU) No 600/2012 |
This Regulation |
Article 1 to 31 |
Article 1 to 31 |
— |
Article 32 |
Article 32 to 78 |
Article 33 to 79 |
Annex I to III |
Annex I to III |
— |
Annex IV |
( 1 ) Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1842 of 31 October 2019 laying down rules for the application of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards further arrangements for the adjustments to free allocation of emission allowances due to activity level changes (OJ, L 282, 4.11.2019, p. 20).