EU ETS

Review of the Directive

MRV and Enforcement Work Stream

Industry Questionnaire

The Commission published its report detailing their intentions for the review of the Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Directive on 13 November 2006. The report states:

  • Robust compliance and enforcement procedures are important for the good functioning of the scheme, not least in view of linking with schemes in third countries.
  • It will be considered whether the monitoring and reporting guidelines should be laid down in a Regulation in order to aid harmonised application of the legislation.
  • As regards third party verification of emissions reports produced by companies and the accreditation process for approving organisations to act as verifiers, many stakeholders have expressed a preference or even stressed the need for more elaborated provisions at Community level.
  • The need for additional compliance provisions will also be considered.

The UK government is in the initial stages of formulating a position on MRV, Compliance and Enforcement for the review. As part of this position Defra is conducting a study of other member states to determine the position across Europe and to help to decide the best practice approach. The study covers the following topics:

  • Increased harmonisation of compliance and enforcement
  • Independent verification and accreditation process

We would like to ask industry for assistance in determining the position of other member states. We value the experiences of organisations that have participated in the scheme during Phase 1 and through the development of Phase 2. We are particularly interested in organisations that have operated in other member states as well as the UK. Therefore if they can provide answer to the following questionnaire it would help determine the position across the EU and help the UK in lobbying the Commission to provide a harmonised and equal scheme for Phase 3 and beyond.

Questionnaire

Name
Organisation/Company
Sector (if applicable)
NAP ID
Permit Number
Address
Email
Telephone
Which other member states do you have experience of operating in?

When answering the questionnaire and if applicable , please identify and note the situation for each of the member states you have experience of. Please provide a concise but fully developed answer where appropriate. The boxes will expand to accommodate your answer.

Section 1

Experiences of MRV, compliance and enforcement in other member states

Question / Answer / Member state
Do other member states assist you with developing your M and R plan? / Yes/No
Do other member states publish additional MRV guidance? / Yes/No
If yes, please state?
Do other member states use forms and templates to aid the MRV process? / Yes No
In your experience, are other member states strict in compliance and enforcement? / Yes/No
Please give any examples
Any further comments?

Section 2

Independent verification in other member states

Question / Answer / Member state
Is verification carried out by the competent authority? / Yes/No
If yes, is this the same competent authority which manages permitting issues?
Is verification independent of the competent authority? / Yes/No
If yes, please specify who conducts the verification
Are there any safeguards in place to protect the impartiality of the verification process? / Yes/No
If yes, please specify what these safeguards are.
Do verifiers act as a verification body and a consultancy service to the same installation? / Yes/No
If yes, please give examples
Any further comments?

Section 3

Financial arrangements of verification

Question / Answer / Member State
Do operators pay verifiers directly? / Yes/No
Do regulators pay for verification and pass cost on to operator through a subsistence fee? / Yes/No
Do regulators pay for verification and do not pass the cost onto the operator? / Yes/No
If you experienced a different arrangement please specify

Section 4

Accreditation of verifiers in member states

Question / Answer / Member state
Are verifiers accredited? / Yes /No
If yes, please give evidence of the process
Are the verifiers checked that they meet the requirements of the member state they are operating in? / Yes/No
Are the correct individual members of the verifier’s team checked? / Yes/No
Do verifiers need to meet a set of competency requirements? / Yes/No
If yes, please specify
Is accreditation independent from competent authorities? / Yes/No
If yes, is the accreditation body:
- separate legal entity to the government?
- separate legal entity to the verifier?
-separate legal entity to the operator?
- part of government but separate to delivery of permitting and enforcement?
- part of the government and part of the competent authority? / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Is accreditation regularly re-appraised? / Yes/No
If yes,
- what is the frequency?
- is full reassessment of accreditation undertaken?
- who carries out this re-appraisal? / Yes/No
Is the accreditation body subject to peer review or auditing?
If yes, please specify who carries this out. Is it:
-separate legal entity to the accreditation body?
-part of government but separate to delivery of permitting and enforcement?
-part of the government and part of the competent authority?
-Other – please specify / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Any further comments?

Section 4

Compliance in other member states

Question / Answer / Member state
In your view, is the administration of compliance in other member states:
- robust?
- pragmatic?
- flexible?
- consistent? / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Where you have answered no, what changes or learning points could be taken onboard?
Please specify additional attributes
Does the administration of compliance in other member states includes checks on:
- verification opinion statements?
- calibration methodology?
- failing to follow correct tier?
- maintenance regimes?
- representative sampling? / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
Any further comments?

Section 5

Other member states enforcement policy

Question / Answer / Member state
Do you have any experience of enforcement in other member states? / Yes/No
If yes, did the member state enforce:
- permit conditions?
- civil penalties?
- surrender notices? / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
- other issues (please specify)
Do other member states regard the enforcement of regulations, conditions and the directive as a legal requirement? / Yes/No
Or do they have a more relaxed approach to enforcement? / Yes/No
Please expand on your experience.
What learning points should be taken into account?

Section 6

The use and enforcement of the Monitoring and Reporting Guidelines (MRG)

Question / Answer / Member State
Are the MRG transposed into national legislation? / Yes/No
Are the MRG set out in national legislation? / Yes/No
If No, please describe method of transposition
How are the specific requirements of the MRG set out:
- permit condition?
- regulations?
- guidance? / Yes/No
Yes/No
Yes/No
- other method (please specify)
Do verifiers recommend improvements? / Yes/No
Do other member states insist upon tier requirements and push continuous improvement? / Yes/No
Do other member states strictly enforce the MRG? / Yes/No
Which sections are strictly enforced?
If you have any suggestions for the review of the directive regarding MRV, compliance and enforcement please list them below