The Council's Permanent Representatives Committee approved on 19 March, the compromise reached between the Council and the European Parliament concerning amending the regulation regarding the technical implementation of the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. It thereby endorsed the agreement reached on 17 March between the Hellenic Presidency of the Council and representatives of the European Parliament.
The new regulation, which amends the recently adopted monitoring mechanism, provides the legal basis enabling the Commission to adopt the necessary technical implementation rules for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol in the EU. These rules are necessary to enable the effective operation of the joint fulfilment of the commitments of the EU, its member states and Iceland for the second commitment period, and to ensure the alignment of the technical implementation of the Kyoto Protocol with the operation of the EU emissions trading scheme and the Effort Sharing Decision.
Background
At the Doha Climate Change Conference in December 2012, the 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change adopted an amendment to the Protocol. This "Doha Amendment" establishes the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, starting on 1 January 2013 and ending on 31 December 2020. The Kyoto Protocol’s second commitment period will continue and enhance the existing comprehensive system of emissions accounting to ensure transparency of the performance of Parties and compliance with their obligations.
Next steps
To come into effect, the text still needs to be formally approved by the Parliament, whose vote in plenary is expected to take place in April, and the Council, which is due to take its decision after the vote in the Parliament.