Eurobrief January 2010

EDITORIAL Carbon Tax: the French case raises EU concerns January 2010 - The ambitious target of the French government to implement a CO2 (carbon) tax from 1 January 2010 has been thwarted by the Constitutional Council ruling that the proposed tax would infringe the principle of equality before public charges and, as such, be unconstitutional.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME EU Finance Ministers approve VAT changes to ETS fraudsters EU Finance Ministers approved in December an amendment to EU VAT (value-added tax) rules in a bid to prevent fraudulent practices connected with the EU ETS.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Commission Decision on carbon leakage published Commission Decision 2010/2/EU determining a list of sectors and subsectors which are deemed to be exposed to a significant risk of carbon leakage has been published in the European Union’s Official Journal (OJ).

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME EU ETS auctioning proposal likely to be delayed Opposition from the UK, Germany, Spain and Poland to European Commission proposals for a centralised system of auctioning carbon allowances in the EU ETS from 2013-20 could mean that the proposal is delayed.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME IEA examines emissions reduction in the cement industry The implementation of carbon capture and storage technology (CCS) on a large scale could help the cement sector reduce its emissions by 18% by 2050 compared with current levels, estimates the International Energy Agency (IEA).

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME EU to approve recovery funding for CCS and wind The European Commission has approved the allocation of €1.05 billion to seven carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects in Europe.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Irish Parliament adopts carbon tax for non-ETS sectors A carbon tax for sectors not covered by the EU ETS, starting at €15 per tonne, has been adopted by the Irish Parliament. There are no exemptions except for ETS sectors.

ENVIRONMENT Copenhagen climate change conference ends in non-binding agreement The UN climate change conference (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen ended in December 2009 with a great deal of publicity but few concrete achievements.

EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME Agreement on sectoral approaches slipping away Efforts to develop sectoral approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions did not go well at Copenhagen, according to the chair of the working group on long-term cooperative action (AWG-LCA).

ENVIRONMENT ACEI issues open letter on EU follow up to Copenhagen In an open letter to the European Parliament and the European Commission, the Alliance for a Competitive European Industry (ACEI) has called on the EU not to unilaterally shift its own target from the existing -20% to -30%.

ENVIRONMENT Commission communication on biodiversity On 19 January, the European Commission issued a communication on Options for an EU vision and target for biodiversity beyond 2010’.

ENVIRONMENT Commission rejects air quality extension requests The European Commission rejected 92 out of 97 requests in December for extending Member States deadlines to meet EU air quality standards as set out by Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe.

ENVIRONMENT Binding sustainability criteria for biomass dropped The Commission has decided not to proceed with a proposal that would have made sustainability criteria for biomass used to generate heat and power legally binding, to CEMBUREAU’s disappointment.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS Political agreement on EPBD proposal reached in Energy Council A political agreement on the Commission’s energy performance of buildings recast proposal was reached in the Energy Council on 07 December 2009.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS CEMBUREAU attends construction information platform Steering Group meeting CEMBUREAU attended the Construction Information Platform’s Steering Group on 22 January to discuss the provision of a tool to facilitate access to EU information relevant to the construction sector.

BUILDINGS & BUILDING MATERIALS European re-building forum to be held in Brussels The European Re-Building Forum will hold an exploratory meeting on 19 January 2010 in Brussels.

CHEMICALS REACH Annex II on SDS: proposed revision sent to European Parliament During its meeting on 8-9 December 2009, the REACH Committee adopted the proposal for the revised Annex II of REACH (SDS).

CHEMICALS CEMBUREAU selected to participate in REACH partner expert groups CEMBUREAU has been selected to participate in Partner Expert Groups (PEGs) which will look into the updating and drafting of several REACH guidance documents.

CHEMICALS REACH Annex V draft guidance sent to CARACAL The revised draft guidance document on Annex V of REACH was sent to the Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP Committee (CARACAL) at the end of December 2009, following the Partner Expert Group consultation in June 2009 and a consultation of the Forum on REACH Enforcement in November 2009.

CHEMICALS Commission preliminary findings on REACH infringements The European Commission presentation on the preliminary findings of the REACH infringement penalties report has found that fines for infringements of the EU’s REACH Regulation vary widely between Member States, and that some may not be high enough.

CHEMICALS REACH consortium approves flue dust tests Sample flue dust from the production of cement clinker to be used in toxicological and eco-toxicological tests has been selected from a plant using alternative fuels and alternative input materials.

CHEMICALS ECHA releases REACH Technical Completeness check plug-in The European Chemical Agency (ECHA) has released an IT tool designed to help companies to check the completeness of their registration dossiers before submitting them to ECHA.

WASTE Guidance on co-processing waste in cement kilns released General guidance on the co-processing of waste as alternative fuels and raw materials in cement production has been produced by the Basel Convention.

WASTE End-of-waste criteria technical adaptation committee to meet in March The next meeting of the technical adaptation committee on end-of-waste criteria is scheduled for the first week of March 2010, after the December meeting was cancelled.

WASTE JRC end-of-waste reports on steel and aluminium scrap published JRC-IPTS reports on end-of-waste criteria for iron steel scrap and aluminium scrap have been published.

WASTE Commission regulation on animal by-products being drafted The Commission has drawn up a preliminary draft law that would lay down technical details for rules established in Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 on animal by-products.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU focus on biodiversity 2010 is the international year of biodiversity. CEMBUREAU will be teaming up with other extractive industry sectors to present the work which has so far been undertaken.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU launches new website At the end of January, CEMBUREAU launched its new website. The website contains all CEMBUREAU positions as well as the Association’s opinion on a number of key topics.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU responds to Commission consultation on EU 2020 Strategy CEMBUREAU has responded to a Commission public consultation on the EU 2020 Strategy. The consultation paper sets out a vision for how EU 2020 will help consolidate economic recovery and prevent crises in future.

OTHER NEWS Barroso outlines priorities for commissioners designate The specific responsibilities and priorities of the new climate commissioner have been outlined by Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

CEMBUREAU CEMBUREAU joins ECRA Advisory Board In December 2009 CEMBUREAU was formally invited to have a seat on the ECRA Technical Advisory Board.