Proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision 93/389/EEC for a monitoring mechanism of Community CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions (96/C 314/07) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(96) 369 final - 96/0192(SYN)

(Submitted by the Commission on 4 September 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130s (1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal of the Commission,

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 189c of the Treaty in cooperation with the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas all Member States and the Community are signatories to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which has been approved by Council Decision 94/69/EC (1) and which, from its entry into force on 21 March 1994, commits all Parties to develop, periodically update, publish and report to the Conference of the Parties national inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, using comparable methodologies agreed upon by the Conference of the Parties;

Whereas that same Convention commits all Parties to formulate, implement, publish and regularly update national, and where appropriate, regional programmes containing measures to mitigate climate change by addressing anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol;

Whereas, at its meeting on 9 March 1995, the Council, drawing upon its conclusions of 15 and 16 December 1994 and in view of the First Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (Berlin, 28 March to 7 April 1995), reiterated its view that commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to their 1990 level by the year 2000 are insufficient to achieve the ultimate objective laid down in Article 2 of the said Convention; and that negotiations on a Protocol covering reductions of all greenhouse gas emissions, their sources and enhancement of sinks and all relevant sectors should focus on a combined approach including both policies and measures as well as targets and timetables such as 2005 and 2010;

Whereas, the First Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change recognized the need to strengthen the commitments of the Parties set out in Annex I to the Convention, and decided to start a process that will enable it to take appropriate action in terms of policies and measures as well as quantified limitations and reductions of greenhouse gas emissions within specified time-frames, such as 2005, 2010 and 2020;

Whereas, the same Conference of the Parties decided that Annex I Parties to the said Convention submit to the secretariat national inventory data on emissions by sources and removals by sinks on an annual basis and that the Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories and Technical Guidelines for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Adaptations adopted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should be used in preparing their reports pursuant to the Convention;

Whereas the provisions of the monitoring mechanism established under Council Decision 93/389/EEC (1) need equally apply to anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol and that such monitoring will allow for the updating of the process, in particular the post-2000 monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions' limitations and reductions;

Whereas it has recognized that it is impossible for all Member States to meet the 31 July deadline for reporting inventories provided for by Decision 93/389/EEC;

Whereas, at its meeting of 22 and 23 June 1995 the Council reaffirmed the determination of the Community to meet its commitments under the Convention and confirmed its conclusions of 29 October 1990 and 9 May 1995;

Whereas Decision 93/389/EEC should be amended accordingly so that greenhouse gas emissions can be monitored after the year 2000,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

Decision 93/389/EEC is amended as follows:

1. Article 1 is replaced by the following:

'Article 1

A monitoring mechanism is hereby established for all anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions not controlled by the Montreal Protocol in the Member States.`

2. Article 2 is amended as follows:

(a) paragraph 1 is amended as follows:

(i) the introductory text is replaced by the following:

'1. Member States shall devise, publish and implement national programmes for limiting their anthropogenic emissions by sources and enhancing removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol in order to contribute to:`

(ii) the second indent is replaced by the following:

'- the fulfilment of the commitment relating to the limitation of all greenhouse gas emissions not controlled by the Montreal Protocol in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change by the Community and its Member States, within their respective competence, and any Protocol to that Convention.`

(b) paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:

'2. Each Member State shall, at the latest from the first updating, include in its national programme:

(a) at a minimum of the three main greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O):

- its 1990 base year anthropogenic emissions determined in accordance with Article 3 (1),

- inventories of its anthropogenic emissions by sources and removal by sinks, determined in accordance with Article 3 (1),

- details of national policies and measures implemented or committed to since the base year which contribute significantly to its efforts to reduce emissions and enhance sinks of greenhouse gases, organized by gas and by sector and including the objective of the measure, the type of policy instrument used by measure, the status of implementation of the policy or measure as well as intermediate indicators of progress for policies and measures,

- measures being taken or envisaged for the implementation of relevant Community legislation and policies,

- estimates of the effects of policies and measures on emissions and removals and incorporation of these in greenhouse gas emissions' projections between the base year and 2000; and after this date, between the base year and regular intervals as being agreed upon in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 8, including information for a quantitative understanding of the key assumptions used to develop the said projections and the methodology used for the provision of the estimates,

- an assessment of the economic impact of the above measures;

(b) information on the ozone precursors, i. e. carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), as well as on other greenhouse gas emissions, including, inter alia, perfluorocarbons (PFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) in line with the reporting requirements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, including - data on emissions,

- a description of policies and measures being taken or envisaged for the limitation of the emissions of these gases,

- best estimates for emissions projections at regular intervals in the future and as being agreed upon in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 8, including information for a quantitative understanding of the key assumptions and the methodology used for the provision of the estimates.`

3. Article 3 is amended as follows:

(a) the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

'1. Member States shall determine their anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, as specified in Article 2 (2) in accordance with the best available methodology to be decided in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 8. Such a methodology shall be either that being developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or compatible with it.`

(b) paragraph 2 is amended as follows:

(i) The date of 31 July is replaced by the date 30 September.

(ii) The following sentence is added:

'Member States shall also report national inventory data on emissions by sources and removals by sinks of the other greenhouse gases referred to in Article 2 (2) on an annual basis.` 4. Article 5 is deleted.

5. Article 6 is replaced by the following:

'Article 6

The Commission shall assess annually in consultation with Member States whether progress in the Community as a whole is sufficient to ensure that the Community is on course to fulfil the commitments referred to in Article 2 (1) and report to the European Parliament and the Council, on the basis of information received under Articles 2 and 3, including where appropriate the updated national programmes.`

6. Article 7 is deleted.

Article 2

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ No L 33, 7. 2. 1994, p. 11.

(1) OJ No L 167, 9. 7. 1993, p. 31.