The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the first international emissions trading system. It was established in 2005 and is remaining the largest carbon market. 

The EU ETS is a vital part of the EU policy to counteract climate change and a tool for reducing greenhouse gas emissions cost-efficiently. 

The EU ETS operates in the European Economic Area (EEA), covering emissions from energy-intensive industrial sectors, power and heat generation, and commercial aviation within the EU. 

In July 2021, the European Commission adopted a series of legislative proposals on how it intends to achieve climate neutrality in the EU by 2050, including an intermediate target of a reduction by 2030 of at least 55% of greenhouse gas emissions compared to 1990.
One of the means is the amendment of the EU ETS Directive 2003/87/EC to include greenhouse gas emissions from the maritime sector, road transport, and combustion of fuel in buildings.

43% of the emissions have been reduced in the sectors covered by emissions trading since the introduction of EU ETS in 2005 (source Climate Action web). The EU ETS has proven to be an effective tool in driving greenhouse gas emissions reductions cost-effectively.

It encourages operators to improve and develop methodologies and new technologies.

It would also lead hopefully to the increase of the use of sustainable energy with less or no greenhouse gas emissions for electricity, heating, and industrial plants.

The annual compliance cycle requires an operator to submit an emissions report based on monitoring the annual emissions.

Accredited verifiers shall verify the emissions report, a key element to provide confidence and trust in the verifiers’ work and the verified emissions reports.

National Accreditation Bodies perform accreditation of verifiers to ensure that verifiers have the competence to carry out the verification and carry it out in line with the Accreditation and Verification Regulation.

Thanks to accreditation, European citizens can have confidence in the emissions reports and the EU ETS as one of the pillars of protecting the environment.

In 2005 EA started to develop specific rules for the accreditation of verifiers in phase 1 of EU ETS. In the following phases, EA supported the European Commission in developing the Accreditation and Verification Regulation and Monitoring and Reporting Regulation and amending these Regulations.

EA also participated in developing the Regulation EU MRV for Maritime transport.

EU ETS is the most important pillar of the European Green Deal established by the European Commission to set Europe on a responsible path to becoming climate neutral by 2050.