Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 749/2014Show full title

CHAPTER II REPORTING BY MEMBER STATES

Article 3 General rules for reporting greenhouse gas inventories

1. Member States shall report the information referred to in Article 7(1) to (5) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 to the Commission with a copy to the European Environment Agency by completing, in accordance with Article 6 of Delegated Regulation (EU) No C(2014) 1539 and with the rules provided for in this Regulation:

(a) the common reporting format tables by providing a complete set of spread sheets or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, depending on the availability of the appropriate software, and covering that Member State's geographical scope under Regulation (EU) No 525/2013;

(b) the standard electronic format for reporting Kyoto Protocol units and the related reporting instructions as adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol;

(c) the Annexes I to VIII and X to XV to this Regulation.

2. The complete national inventory report referred to in Article 7(3) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 shall be drafted based on the structure set out in the Appendix to the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual greenhouse gas inventories as included in Annex I to Decision 24/CP.19 and following the rules provided for in this Regulation.

Article 4 Reporting in the National Inventory Report or in an annex to the National Inventory Report

1. Member States shall include the information and the tabular formats required by Articles 6, 7, 9 to 16 in the National Inventory Report or in a separate annex to the National Inventory Report, as specified in Annex I.

2. Where Member States may choose whether the information and the tabular formats to be reported are included in the National Inventory Report or in a separate annex to the National Inventory Report, Member States shall clearly indicate where the information is provided by completing Annex I.

Article 5 Processes for reporting

Member States shall use the ReportNet tools of the European Environment Agency, provided pursuant to Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council(1), for the submission of the information under Articles 4, 5, 7, 8, 12 to 17 of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.

Article 6 Reporting on national inventory systems

1. Member States shall report the information on their national inventory systems referred to in Article 5(1) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in textual format, specifying:

(a) the name and contact information for the national entity with overall responsibility for the national inventory of the Member State;

(b) the roles and responsibilities of various agencies and entities in relation to the inventory planning, preparation and management process, as well as the institutional, legal and procedural arrangements made to prepare the inventory;

(c) a description of the process for collecting activity data, for selecting emission factors and methods, and for developing emission estimates;

(d) a description of the approaches used and the results of key category identification;

(e) a description of the processes which determine when recalculations of previously submitted inventory data are performed;

(f) a description of the quality assurance and quality control plan, its implementation and the quality objectives established, and information on internal and external evaluation and review processes and their results in accordance with the guidelines for national systems set out in the Annex to Decision 19/CMP.1 of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol;

(g) a description of the procedures for the official consideration and approval of the inventory.

2. Member States shall report a description of the arrangements made to ensure access of the competent inventory authorities to the information referred to in Article 5(2) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 including information on the organizations providing the information, the regular scheduling of the access to information, the level of disaggregation and completeness to which access is provided.

Article 7 Reporting on consistency of the reported data on air pollutants

1. Member States shall report textual information on the results of the checks referred to in Article 7(1)(m)(i) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 and on the consistency of the data pursuant to Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 including:

(a) a brief assessment whether the emissions estimates of carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds, in inventories submitted by the Member State under Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(2) and under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution are consistent with the corresponding emission estimates in greenhouse gas inventories under Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.

(b) the submission dates of the reports under Directive 2001/81/EC and under the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution that were compared with the inventory submission under Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.

2. Where the checks referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article result in differences of more than +/–5 % between the total emissions excluding Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) for a particular air pollutant reported under Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 and respectively under Directive 2001/81/EC or the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution for the year X-2, the Member State concerned shall report in accordance with the tabular format set out in Annex II to this Regulation in addition to the textual information pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article for that air pollutant.

3. Member States may report only textual information if the difference of more than +/– 5 % referred to in paragraph 2 derives from correction of data errors, differences in geographical coverage or in scope of application in between the respective legal instruments.

Article 8 Reporting on recalculations

Member States shall report the reason for recalculations of the base year or period and of year X-3 referred to in Article 7(1)(e) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in the tabular format set out in Annex III to this Regulation.

Article 9 Reporting on implementation of recommendations and adjustments

1. Under Article 7(1)(j) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, Member States shall report on the status of implementation of each adjustment and of each recommendation listed in the most recently published individual UNFCCC review report, including reasons for not implementing such a recommendation, in accordance with the tabular format specified in Annex IV to this Regulation.

2. Member States shall report on the status of implementation of each recommendation listed in the most recent review report pursuant to Article 35(2) in accordance with the tabular format specified in Annex IV.

Article 10 Reporting on consistency of reported emissions with data from the emissions trading scheme

1. Member States shall report the information referred to in Article 7(1)(k) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in accordance with the tabular format set out in Annex V to this Regulation.

2. Member States shall report textual information on the results of the checks performed pursuant to Article 7(1)(l) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.

Article 11 Reporting on consistency of the data reported on fluorinated greenhouse gases

Member States shall report textual information on the results of the checks referred to in Article 7(1)(m)(ii) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 including:

(a)

a description of the checks performed by the Member State concerning the level of detail, the data sets and the submissions compared;

(b)

a description of the main results of the checks and explanations for the main inconsistencies;

(c)

information whether the data collected by operators under Article 3(6) of Regulation (EC) No 842/2006(3) has been made use of and how;

(d)

where the checks have not been performed, an explanation of the reasons why the checks were not considered to be relevant.

Article 12 Reporting on consistency with energy data

1. Under Article 7(1)(m)(iii) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, Member States shall report textual information on the comparison between the reference approach calculated on the basis of the data included in the greenhouse gas inventory and the reference approach calculated on the basis of the data reported pursuant to Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council(4) and Annex B to that Regulation.

2. Member States shall provide quantitative information and explanations for differences of more than +/– 2 % in the total national apparent fossil fuel consumption at aggregate level for all fossil fuel categories for the year X-2 in accordance with the tabular format set out in Annex VI.

Article 13 Reporting on changes in descriptions of national inventory systems or registries

Member States shall clearly state in the relevant chapters of the national inventory report if there have been no changes in the description of their national inventory systems or of their national registries referred to in Article 7(1)(n) and (o) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 since the previous submission of the national inventory report.

Article 14 Reporting on uncertainty and completeness

1. For the purposes of reporting on uncertainty under Article 7(1)(p) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, Member States shall report approach 1 uncertainty estimates for

(a) emission levels and trends and

(b) activity data and emission factors or other estimation parameters used at the appropriate category level using the tabular format set out in Annex VII to this Regulation.

2. The general assessment of completeness referred to in Article 7(1)(p) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 shall include:

(a) an overview of the categories that have been reported as not estimated (NE), as defined in the UNFCCC reporting guidelines on annual greenhouse gas inventories included in Annex I to Decision 24/CP.19, and detailed explanations for the use of this notation key especially where the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories provide methods for estimation of greenhouse gases;

(b) a description of the geographical coverage of the greenhouse gas inventory.

3. Where a Member State submits inventories with different geographical coverage under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol and under Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, that Member State shall provide a short description of the principles and methods applied to distinguish emissions and removals reported for the Union's territory from emissions and removals reported for non-Union territories when compiling the inventory for the Union's territory of the respective Member State.

Article 15 Reporting on other elements for the preparation of the Union greenhouse gas inventory report

1. To enable the preparation of the Union greenhouse gas inventory report as referred to in Article 7(1)(p) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, Member States shall report the information on the methods and emission factors used for those categories identified as Union key category in the relevant XML files and common reporting format tables.

2. For the purposes of paragraph 1, the Commission shall provide the list of most recent Union's key categories by 31 October of the year prior to the inventory submission.

3. Member States shall explain and interpret past emission trends and inter-annual variations at aggregate level in each sector including reference to the main drivers identified to have significant impacts on the trends. The focus shall lie on the explanation of changes in the most recent inventory year compared with 1990 and on explanations of significant inter-annual variations for the most recent years of reporting, in particular from year X-3 to year X-2.

Article 16 Reporting on major changes to methodological descriptions

By 15 March of each year, Member States shall report the major changes to the methodological descriptions in the national inventory report since its submission due on 15 April of the previous year, in the tabular format set out in Annex VIII.

Article 17 Reporting approximated greenhouse gas inventories

1. Member States shall report approximated greenhouse gas inventories as referred to in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, in accordance with the common reporting format table — Summary table 2 as following:

(a) at a level of disaggregation of source categories reflecting the activity data and methods available for the preparation of estimates for the year X-1;

(b) excluding the total approximated CO₂ equivalent emissions and removals from LULUCF;

(c) adding two columns for reporting the split between emissions included in the scope of the Union's emissions trading scheme established by Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council(5) and emissions covered by Decision No 406/2009/EC by source category, where available.

2. Member States shall provide explanations including on main drivers for the trends in emissions reported in Summary table 2 compared to the inventory already reported. Such explanation shall reflect only the information available for the preparation of estimates for the year X-1.

Article 18 Timescales for cooperation and coordination in preparing the Union greenhouse gas inventory report

Member States and the Commission shall cooperate and coordinate in the preparation of the Union greenhouse gas inventory and of the Union inventory report and comply with the time-limits set out in Annex IX.

Article 19 Reporting on the determination of the assigned amount

Member States shall submit a report with the information necessary to facilitate the calculation of the joint assigned amount and the assigned amount of the Union pursuant to Article 3, paragraphs 7bis, 8 and 8bis of the Kyoto Protocol for the second commitment period in accordance with Annex I to Decision 2/CMP.8 related to that report, to the Commission three months prior to the time limit for submission of that report to the UNFCCC.

Article 20 Reporting on national systems for policies and measures and projections

Member States shall report on national systems for policies and measures and projections referred to in Article 13(1)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, including:

(a)

information concerning the relevant institutional, legal and procedural arrangements, including the designation of the appropriate national entity or entities entrusted with overall responsibility for the policy evaluation of the Member State concerned and for the projections of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions;

(b)

a description of relevant institutional, legal and procedural arrangements established within a Member State for evaluating policy and for making projections of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks;

(c)

a description of the relevant procedural arrangements and timescales to ensure the timeliness, transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability and completeness of the information reported on policies and measures and the information reported on projections;

(d)

a description of the overall process for the collection and use of data, together with an assessment of whether consistent processes for collection and use of data are underpinning the evaluation of policies and measures and the making of projections as well as the different projected sectors in the making of projections;

(e)

a description of the process for selecting assumptions, methodologies and models for policy evaluation, and for making projections of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions;

(f)

a description of the quality assurance and quality control activities and of the sensitivity analysis for projections carried out.

Article 21 Reporting on updates to Member States' low-carbon development strategies

Member States shall report on updates of their low-carbon development strategies referred to in Article 13(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013, including information concerning:

(a)

the objective and a short description of the update carried out;

(b)

the legal status of the low-carbon development strategy and of its update;

(c)

the changes and expected impacts of the update on the implementation of the low-carbon development strategy;

(d)

the timeline and a description of the progress for the implementation of the low-carbon development strategy and of its update, and where available, an assessment of the projected costs and benefits associated with the update;

(e)

the manner in which the information is made available to the public pursuant to Article 4(3) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013.

Article 22 Reporting on policies and measures

1. Member States shall report the information on policies and measures referred to in Article 13(1)(c), (d) and (e) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in accordance with the tabular formats set out in Annex XI to this Regulation and using the reporting template provided and the submission process introduced by the Commission.

2. Member States shall report qualitative information regarding the links between the different policies and measures reported pursuant paragraph 1 and the way such policies and measures contribute to the different projection scenarios including an assessment of their contribution to the achievement of a low-carbon development strategy, in a textual format in addition to the tabular format referred to in paragraph 1.

Article 23 Reporting on projections

1. Member States shall report the information on projections of anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions by sources and removals by sinks referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in accordance with the tabular formats set out in Annex XII to this Regulation, using the reporting template provided and the submission process introduced by the Commission.

2. Member States shall provide additional information, in a textual format, regarding:

(a) the results of the sensitivity analysis for the total reported greenhouse gas emissions, together with a brief explanation on which parameters were varied and how.

(b) the results of the sensitivity analysis split on total emissions covered by Decision No 406/2009/EC, total emissions included in the scope of the Union's emissions trading scheme established by Directive 2003/87/EC and total LULUCF emissions when such information is available;

(c) the year of inventory data (base year) and year of inventory report used as a starting point for the projections;

(d) the methodologies used for the projections, including a brief description of models used and their sectoral, geographical and temporal coverage, references for further information on the models and information on key exogenous assumptions and parameters used.

3. Nine months before the time-limit for submission of a report on projections pursuant to Article 14(1) of Regulation (EC) No 525/2013 and in consultation with the Member States, the Commission shall recommend harmonised values for key supra-nationally determined parameters including carbon prices under emission trading scheme, international oil and coal import prices, with a view of ensuring consistency of the aggregated Union projections.

Article 24 Reporting on the use of auctioning revenues

Member States shall report the information on the use of auctioning revenues referred to in Article 17(1)(b) and (c) and Article 17(2) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in accordance with the tabular formats set out in Annex XIII to this Regulation.

Article 25 Reporting on the project credits used for compliance with Decision No 406/2009/EC

Member States shall report the information on the project credits used for compliance with Decision No 406/2009/EC referred to in Article 17(1)(a) and (d) of Regulation (EU) No 525/2013 in accordance the tabular format set out in Annex XIV to this Regulation.

Article 26 Reporting on summary information on concluded transfers

1. Member States shall report the summary information on concluded transfers pursuant to Article 3(4) and (5) of Decision No 406/2009/EC in accordance with the tabular format set out in Annex XV to this Regulation.

2. The Commission services shall compile and make available electronically a report summarizing the information provided by Member States on annual basis. Such report shall provide only aggregated data and shall not disclose information from individual Member States on prices per unit of annual emission allocation.

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 401/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the European Environment Agency and the European Environment Information and Observation Network (OJ L 126, 21.5.2009, p. 13).

(2)

Directive 2001/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2001 on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants (OJ L 309, 27.11.2001, p. 22).

(3)

Regulation (EC) No 842/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 May 2006 on certain fluorinated greenhouse gases (OJ L 161, 14.6.2006, p. 1).

(4)

Regulation (EC) No 1099/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008 on energy statistics (OJ L 304, 14.11.2008, p. 1).

(5)

Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 275, 25.10.2003, p. 32).