Commission Delegated Decision (EU) 2020/1071

of 18 May 2020

amending Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, as regards the exclusion of incoming flights from Switzerland from the EU emissions trading system

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a system for greenhouse gas emissions allowance trading within the Union and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC1, and in particular Article 25a(1) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

Article 25a of Directive 2003/87/EC empowers the Commission to adopt provisions to exclude flights arriving from a third country from the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS). Such provisions should provide for optimal interaction between the EU ETS and a third country’s measures for reducing the climate change impact of aviation.

(2)

Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the linking of their greenhouse gas emissions trading systems2 (the ‘Agreement’) was signed on 23 November 2017 and entered into force on 1 January 2020. The Agreement provides that flights from aerodromes situated in the territory of Switzerland to aerodromes situated in the European Economic Area (EEA) are to be excluded from the EU ETS.

(3)

Directive 2003/87/EC should therefore be amended in order to exclude flights from aerodromes situated in Switzerland to aerodromes situated in the EEA from the EU ETS. In order to maintain stability as regards the coverage of operators, that exclusion should not affect the provisions that exclude certain aviation activities from the EU ETS based on specified thresholds in terms of number of flights or emissions per operator.

(4)

Directive 2003/87/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.

(5)

As the Agreement entered into force on 1 January 2020, this Decision should apply from that date,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: