EU ETS at a crossroads: recalibrating an oversupplied market to spur investments and innovation

The European Parliament will soon vote on the European Commission’s proposal to amend the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme(EU ETS) Directive. In order to correct the massive imbalance between supply and demand in the carbon market, the European Commission has proposed to delay the auctioning of 900 million (mln) allowances, a process called “back-­‐loading”. The Parliament and EU governments have been asked to clarify the mandate of the Commission with regards to delaying the timing of emission allowance auctions.