Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/1122 of 12 March 2019 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the functioning of the Union Registry (Text with EEA relevance.)

TITLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER 1

Subject matter, scope and definitions

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation lays down general, operational and maintenance requirements concerning the Union Registry and the independent transaction log provided for in Article 20(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation applies to allowances created for the purposes of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

This Regulation also applies to annual emission allocation units (AEA).

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the definitions in Article 3 of Regulation (EU) No 1031/2010 and in Article 3 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 (¹) shall apply. The following definitions shall also apply:

(1) ‘central administrator’ means the person designated by the Commission pursuant to Article 20 of Directive 2003/87/EC;

(2) ‘national administrator’ means the entity responsible for administering on behalf of a Member State a set of user accounts under the jurisdiction of a Member State in the Union Registry, designated in accordance with Article 7;

(3) ‘account holder’ means a natural or legal person that holds an account in the Union Registry;

(4) ‘account information’ means all information necessary to open an account or register a verifier, including all information on representatives assigned to them;

(5) ‘competent authority’ means the authority or authorities designated by a Member State pursuant to Article 18 of Directive 2003/87/EC;

(6) ‘verifier’ means: (a) in the case of stationary installations, aircraft operators and regulated entities, verifier as defined in Article 3, point (3), of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067 (²); (b) in the case of maritime transport, verifier as defined in Article 3, point (f), of Regulation (EU) 2015/757 of the European Parliament and of the Council (³);

(7) ‘aviation allowances’ means allowances created pursuant to Articles 3c and 3d of Directive 2003/87/EC that were issued before 1 January 2025 and allowances, created for the same purpose, stemming from emission trading systems that are linked to the EU ETS under Article 25 of that Directive;

(8) ‘general allowances’ means allowances created pursuant to Chapter III of Directive 2003/87/EC, including allowances stemming from emission trading systems that are linked with the EU ETS pursuant to Article 25 of that Directive, and allowances created pursuant to Articles 3c and 3d of that Directive that were issued after 1 January 2025;

(8a) ‘regulated entity allowances’ means allowances created pursuant to Chapter IVa of Directive 2003/87/EC;

(9) ‘process’ means an automated technical means to carry out an action relating to an account or a unit in the Union Registry;

(10) ‘execution’ means the finalisation of a process proposed for execution that may result in completion if all conditions are fulfilled or in termination;

(11) ‘working day’ means any day of the year from Monday to Friday;

(12) ‘transaction’ means a process in the Union Registry that involves the transfer of an allowance or an annual emission allocation unit from one account to another account;

(13) ‘surrender’ means the accounting of an allowance by an stationary installation, an aircraft operator, a shipping company or a regulated entity against the verified emissions of its installation, aircraft, or ship or against fuel released for consumption;

(14) ‘deletion’ means the definitive disposal of an allowance by its holder without accounting it against verified emissions;

(15) ‘money laundering’ means money laundering as defined in Article 1(3) of Directive (EU) 2015/849;

(16) ‘serious crime’ means serious crime as defined in Article 3(4) of Directive (EU) 2015/849;

(17) ‘terrorist financing’ means terrorist financing as defined in Article 1(5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849;

(18) ‘directors’ means the persons discharging managerial responsibilities as defined in Article 3(1) point (25) of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014;

(19) ‘parent undertaking’ means parent undertaking as defined in Article 2(9) of Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁴);

(20) ‘subsidiary undertaking’ means subsidiary undertaking as defined in Article 2(10) of Directive 2013/34/EU;

(21) ‘group’ means group as defined in Article 2(11) of Directive 2013/34/EU;

(22) ‘central counterparty’ means central counterparty as defined in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (⁵);

(23) ‘ESR compliance period’ means the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2030 during which the Member States are to limit their greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/842;

(24) ‘annual emission allocation unit’ means a subdivision of a Member State's annual emission allocation determined pursuant to Article 4(3) and Article 10 of Regulation (EU) 2018/842 equal to 1 tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent;

(25) ‘operator accounts’ means stationary installation holding accounts, aircraft operator holding accounts, maritime operator holding accounts and regulated entity holding accounts;

(26) ‘operators’ means stationary installations, aircraft operators, shipping companies and regulated entities.

CHAPTER 2

The registries system

Article 4

Union Registry

Article 5

European Union Transaction Log

Article 6

Communication links between registries  —————

Article 7

National administrators

CHAPTER 3

Accounts

Section 1

General provisions applicable to all accounts

Article 8

Accounts

Article 9

Account status

Article 10

The administering of accounts

Article 11

Notifications from the central administrator

The central administrator shall notify the account representatives and the national administrator of the proposal for execution and completion or termination of any process related to the account, and of the change of status of the account, through an automated mechanism described in the data exchange and technical specifications provided for in Article 75. Notifications shall be sent in the official language(s) of the Member State of the administrator of the account.

Section 2

Opening and updating accounts

Article 12

Opening accounts administered by the central administrator

Article 13

Opening an auction collateral delivery account in the Union Registry

For the purposes of Article 9(2) of Directive 98/26/EC, an auction collateral delivery account held in the Union Registry shall constitute the relevant account and shall be deemed to be located in and governed by the laws of the Member State referred to in Article 10(5) of this Regulation.

Article 14

Opening stationary installation holding accounts in the Union Registry

Article 15

Opening aircraft operator holding accounts in the Union Registry

Article 15a

Opening maritime operator holding accounts in the Union Registry

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, for the requests referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and submitted in 2024, the deadline for the national administrator to open a maritime operator holding account shall be 40 working days from the receipt of a complete set of information.

Article 15b

Opening regulated entity holding accounts in the Union Registry

By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, for the requests submitted from 1 June 2026 until 31 December 2027, the deadline for the national administrator to open a regulated entity holding accounts shall be 40 working days from the receipt of a complete set of information in accordance with paragraph 1.

Article 15c

Opening third country government deletion accounts in the Union Registry

Article 15d

Opening tax derogation deletion accounts in the Union Registry

Article 16

Opening trading accounts in the Union Registry

Article 17

Opening national holding accounts in the Union Registry

The competent authority of a Member State shall instruct the national administrator to open a national holding account in the Union Registry within 20 working days of the receipt of the information set out in Annex III.

Article 18

Registering verifiers in the Union Registry

Article 19

Refusal to open an account or register a verifier

In the event of justified doubts, the national administrator may request assistance by another national administrator in carrying out the verification referred to in the first subparagraph. The administrator that has received such request may refuse it. The prospective account holder or verifier may explicitly ask the national administrator to request such assistance. The national administrator shall inform the prospective account holder or verifier of such assistance request.

A national administrator may refuse to open an account or register a verifier:

(a) if the information and documents provided are incomplete, out-of-date or otherwise inaccurate or false;

(b) if a law enforcement authority provides information or if information is available by other means to a national administrator that the prospective account holder, or, if it is a legal person, any of the directors of the prospective account holder, is under investigation or has been convicted in the preceding five years for fraud involving allowances, money laundering, terrorist financing or other serious crimes for which the account may be an instrument;

(c) if the national administrator has reasonable grounds to believe that the accounts may be used for fraud involving allowances, money laundering, terrorist financing or other serious crimes;

(d) for reasons set out in national law.

Article 20

Authorised representatives

The central administrator shall ensure that authorised representatives of accounts in the Union Registry can access the relevant accounts and have one of the following rights on behalf of the account holder:

(a) initiate processes;

(b) approve processes, if required;

(c) initiate processes and approve processes initiated by another authorised representative.

At the opening, each account shall have at least two authorised representatives with one of the following combination of rights:

(a) one authorised representative with the right to initiate processes and one with right to approve processes;

(b) one authorised representative with the right to initiate processes and approve processes initiated by another authorised representative and one with right to approve processes;

(c) one authorised representative with right to initiate processes and one with the right to initiate processes and approve processes initiated by another authorised representative;

(d) two authorised representatives with the right to initiate processes and approve processes initiated by another authorised representative.

Article 21

Nominating and approval of authorised representatives

If the prospective authorised representative has already been nominated to an account and if the account holder so requests, the national administrator may use the documentation that was submitted at the earlier nomination for the purposes of verification referred to in paragraph 4.

In the event of justified doubts, the national administrator may request assistance by another national administrator in carrying out the verification referred to in the first subparagraph. The administrator that has received such request may refuse it. The prospective account holder or verifier may explicitly ask the national administrator to request such assistance. The national administrator shall inform the prospective account holder or verifier of such assistance request.

A national administrator may refuse to approve an authorised representative:

(a) if the information and documents provided are incomplete, out-of-date or otherwise inaccurate or false;

(b) if a law enforcement authority provides information or if information is available by other means to a national administrator that the prospective representative is under investigation or has been convicted in the preceding five years for fraud involving allowances, money laundering, terrorist financing or other serious crimes for which the account may be an instrument;

(c) for reasons set out in national law.

Article 22

Updating of account information and information on authorised representatives

Article 23

Trusted account list

Section 3

Closure of accounts

Article 24

Closure of accounts

Subject to Article 29, within 10 working days of the receipt of a request from the account holder of an account other than those specified in Articles 25 and 26, the administrator shall close the account.

Article 24a

Closure of third country government deletion accounts

The central administrator shall close a third country government deletion account within 10 working days of the end of the time period set out in the non-binding arrangement referred to in Article 25(1b) of Directive 2003/87/EC.

Article 25

Closure of stationary installation holding accounts

The national administrator may close a stationary installation holding account if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) the installation ceased operation or the greenhouse gas emissions permit was withdrawn;

(b) the year of last emission is registered in the Union Registry;

(c) verified emissions were registered for all years when the stationary installation was included in the EU ETS;

(d) the operator of the relevant installation has surrendered an amount of allowances equal to or greater than its verified emissions;

(e) no return of excess allowances is pending pursuant to Article 48(4).

Article 26

Closure of aircraft operator holding accounts

The national administrator may close an aircraft operator holding account if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) notification pursuant to paragraph 1 has been made;

(b) the year of last emission is registered in the Union Registry;

(c) verified emissions were registered for all years when the aircraft operator was included in the EU ETS;

(d) the aircraft operator has surrendered an amount of allowances equal to or greater than its verified emissions;

(e) no return of excess allowances is pending pursuant to Article 50(6).

Article 26a

Closure of maritime operator holding accounts

The national administrator may close a maritime operator holding account if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) notification pursuant to paragraph 1 has been made;

(b) the year of last emission is registered in the Union Registry;

(c) verified emissions subject to surrender requirements in accordance with Articles 3gb and 12 of Directive 2003/87/EC were registered for all years when the shipping company was included in the EU ETS;

(d) the shipping company has surrendered an amount of allowances equal to or greater than its verified emissions subject to surrender requirements in accordance with Articles 3gb and 12 of Directive 2003/87/EC.

Article 26b

Closure of regulated entity holding accounts

The national administrator may close a regulated entity holding account if the following conditions are fulfilled:

(a) notification from the competent authority pursuant to paragraph 1 has been received;

(b) the year of last emission is registered in the Union Registry;

(c) verified emissions were registered for all years when the regulated entity was included in the EU ETS;

(d) the regulated entity has surrendered an amount of allowances equal to or greater than its verified emissions.

Article 26c

Closure of national competent authority accounts

The national administrator may close a national competent authority account if the emissions reported under Article 15b(8) have been registered.

Article 27

Removing verifiers

The competent authority may also instruct the national administrator to remove a verifier from the Union Registry where one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

(a) the verifier's accreditation has expired or has been withdrawn;

(b) the verifier ceased operation.

Article 27a

Closure of the ESR Compliance Account

The central administrator shall close an ESR Compliance Account not earlier than one month after the determination of the compliance status figure for that account pursuant to Article 59f, and after giving prior notice to the account holder.

On closure of the ESR Compliance Account, the central administrator shall ensure that the Union Registry transfers the AEAs remaining in the ESR Compliance Account to the ESR Deletion Account.

Article 28

Closure of accounts and removal of authorised representatives on the administrator's initiative

In the case of operator accounts, the competent authority or the relevant law enforcement authority may instruct the national administrator to set to blocked status those accounts for which access is suspended until the competent authority determines that the situation giving rise to the suspension no longer subsists.

Article 29

Positive balance on accounts under closure

If there is a positive balance of allowances on an account which an administrator is to close in accordance with Articles 24, 25, 26 and 28, the administrator shall request the account holder to specify another account to which such allowances shall be transferred. If the account holder has not responded to the administrator's request within 40 working days, the administrator may transfer the allowances to its national holding account or set the account status to closure pending.

Section 4

Suspension of access to accounts

Article 30

Suspension of access to accounts

An administrator may suspend the access of an authorised representative to any account or verifier in the registry or to processes to which that authorised representative would otherwise have access if the administrator has reasonable grounds to believe that the authorised representative has:

(a) attempted to access accounts or processes for which he is not authorised;

(b) repeatedly attempted to access an account or a process using an incorrect username and password; or

(c) attempted to compromise the security, the availability, the integrity or the confidentiality of the Union Registry  —————, or of the data handled or stored therein.

An administrator may suspend all access of authorised representatives to a specific account or a verifier where one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

(a) the account holder died or ceased to exist as a legal person;