Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1208 of 7 August 2020 on structure, format, submission processes and review of information reported by Member States pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 749/2014 (Text with EEA relevance)

CHAPTER I

SUBJECT MATTER, SCOPE AND DEFINITIONS

Article 1

Subject matter

This Regulation establishes rules implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 as regards the following:

(a) Member States’ reporting on national adaptation actions, the use of auctioning revenues and financial and technology support provided to developing countries pursuant to Article 19 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

(b) Member States’ reporting on approximated greenhouse gas (or GHG) inventories, greenhouse gas inventories and accounted greenhouse gas emissions and removals pursuant to Article 26 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

(c) requirements on the establishment, operation and functioning of national inventory systems pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

(d) the timing and the procedure for carrying out the comprehensive review pursuant to Article 38 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

(e) Member States’ reporting on national system for policies and measures and projections pursuant to Article 39 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.

Article 2

Scope

This Regulation applies to the reports submitted by the Member States containing data required for the year 2021 onwards.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) ‘common reporting table’, or ‘CRT’, means a table for information on anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks included in Annex I to Decision 5/CMA.3 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting to the Parties to the Paris Agreement (Decision 5/CMA.3).

(2) ‘reference approach’ means the reference approach by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), as set out in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (‘2006 IPCC Guidelines’);

(3) ‘approach 1’ means the basic method for the estimation of uncertainties included in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines;

(4) ‘key category’ means a category which has a significant influence on a Member State’s or the Union’s total inventory of greenhouse gases in terms of the absolute level of emissions and removals, the trend in emissions and removals, or uncertainty in emissions and removals;

(5) ‘sectoral approach’ means the IPCC sectoral approach as set out in the 2006 IPCC Guidelines;

(6) ‘outline for greenhouse gas inventory documents’ means the outline included in Annex V to Decision 5/CMA.3 of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting to the Parties to the Paris Agreement pursuant to Decision 18/CMA.1;

(7) ‘transparency MPGs’ means the modalities, procedures and guidelines for the transparency framework for action and support referred to in Article 13 of the Paris Agreement, as set out in in the Annex to Decision 18/CMA.1 of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC serving as meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement;

(8) ‘greenhouse gas inventory guidelines’ mean guidelines specified in Article 3 of the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/1044 (¹);

(9) ‘recalculation’ is a procedure for re-estimating, in accordance with the greenhouse gas inventory guidelines anthropogenic GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks of previously submitted GHG inventories as a consequence of changes in methodologies, changes in the manner in which emission factors and activity data are obtained and used, or the inclusion of new source and sink categories.

CHAPTER II

REPORTING BY MEMBER STATES ON NATIONAL ADAPTATION ACTIONS, AUCTIONING REVENUES AND SUPPORT TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Article 4

Information on national adaptation actions

Member States shall report the information on their national adaptation actions pursuant to Article 19(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the format set out in Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 5

Information on the use of auctioning revenues

Member States shall report the information on the use of revenues generated by auctioning allowances pursuant to Article 19(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the formats set out in Annex II to this Regulation.

If the Commission considers that the information referred to in the first subparagraph is not sufficiently detailed for an assessment of compliance with Article 10(3) of Directive 2003/87/EC, the Commission shall request that the relevant Member State resubmit the report with sufficiently detailed information Such resubmission shall be made within two months from the receipt of the request.

Article 6

Information on financial and technology support provided to developing countries

CHAPTER III

REPORTING BY MEMBER STATES ON APPROXIMATED GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORIES, GREENHOUSE GAS INVENTORIES AND ACCOUNTED GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND REMOVALS

Article 7

Reporting on approximated greenhouse gas inventories

Member States shall report their approximated greenhouse gas inventories pursuant to Article 26(2) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the format set out in Annex VI:

(a) at a level of disaggregation of categories reflecting the activity data and methods available for the preparation of estimates for the year X-1;

(b) in separate columns, the split between emissions covered by Directive 2003/87/EC and emissions covered by Regulation (EU) 2018/842 by source category, where available.

Article 8

General rules for reporting on greenhouse gas inventories

Member States shall report the information referred to in Article 26(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 by completing, in accordance with the greenhouse gas inventory guidelines and with the rules provided for in this Regulation:

(a) the common reporting tables by providing a complete set of spread sheets or Extensible Markup Language (XML) files, depending on the availability of the appropriate software, and covering Member State’s geographical scope under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

(b) the information as specified in Articles 9 to 23 of this Regulation.

Article 9

Reporting on recalculations

Member States shall report the reasons for recalculations of greenhouse gas emissions and removals referred to in point (d) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in the years 1990, 2005 and X-3; how the time series consistency for all reported years is maintained in writing in the form of a draft of the dedicated summary chapter on recalculations of the national inventory report.

Article 10

Reporting on implementation of recommendations

Article 11

Reporting on inventory methods, emission factors and on related methodological descriptions for Union key categories

Member States shall provide the following information for the preparation of the Union inventory report referred to in point (m) of Part 1 of Annex V of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999:

(a) summary information on the methods and emission factors used for the Union’s key categories within the relevant XML files of the common reporting tables;

(b) for those Union key categories, where information on methods and emission factors is not contained in the common reporting tables, information in accordance with Part 3 of Annex IX of this Regulation;

(c) updated summary methodological descriptions for the Union’s key categories in accordance with the format set out in Part 4 of Annex IX.

For the purpose of reporting under paragraph 1, the Commission shall provide the Member States with the following:

(a) the list of the most recent Union’s key categories by 31 October in accordance with the format set out in Part 1 of Annex IX;

(b) the updated list referred to in paragraph 2(a) with changes highlighted by 28 February;

(c) where available, information on inventory methods, emission factors and on summary methodological descriptions by 31 October in accordance with the format set out in Part 2 of Annex IX;

(d) the updated information referred to in paragraph 2(c) by 28 February.

Article 12

Reporting on uncertainty and completeness

Member States shall report the information on the general assessment of completeness referred to in point (m) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in the national inventory report, specifying:

(a) the categories, which were reported as not estimated (NE), as defined in the transparency MPGs, and detailed explanations for the use of this notation key especially where the greenhouse gas inventory guidelines provide methods for estimation of greenhouse gases;

(b) the geographical coverage of the greenhouse gas inventory, and any differences between the geographical coverage under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement and under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.

Article 13

Reporting on indicators

Member States shall report information on indicators referred to in point (e) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the format set out in Annex XI.

Article 14

Reporting on consistency of reported emissions with data from the EU Emissions Trading System

Article 15

Reporting on consistency of the reported data on air pollutants

Member States shall report information on the results of the checks referred to in point (j)(i) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and on the consistency of the data pursuant to point (b) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in a textual format, specifying

(a) whether the emissions estimates of carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds, in inventories submitted by the Member State under Directive (EU) 2016/2284 are consistent with the corresponding emission estimates in greenhouse gas inventories under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999;

(b) the submission dates of the reports under Directive (EU) 2016/2284 that were compared with the inventory submission under Regulation (EU) 2018/1999.

Article 16

Reporting on consistency of the data reported on fluorinated greenhouse gases

Member States shall report the information on the results of the checks referred to in point (j)(ii) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in a textual format, specifying:

(a) the checks performed by the Member State concerning the level of detail, the data sets and the submissions compared;

(b) the main results of the checks and explanations for the main inconsistencies;

(c) whether the data collected by operators under Article 6(1) of Regulation (EU) No 517/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (²) were made use of and how;

(d) the reasons why the checks were not considered to be relevant, where those checks were not performed.

Article 17

Reporting on consistency with energy statistics

Article 18

Reporting on changes in descriptions of national inventory systems or registries

Member States shall clearly state in the relevant chapters of the national inventory report if there were no changes in the description of their national inventory systems or, if applicable, of their national registries referred to in points (k) and (l) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 since the previous submission of the national inventory report.

Article 19

Reporting on greenhouse gas emissions covered by Regulation (EU) 2018/842

Member States shall report anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases listed in Part 2 of Annex V to Regulation 2018/1999 in the scope specified in Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/842, as referred to in point (a) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, and updates of such information referred to in point (d) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the format set out in Annex XV to this Regulation.

Article 20

Reporting on summary information on concluded transfers in accordance with Regulation 2018/841

Member States shall report the summary information on concluded transfers pursuant to Articles 12 and 13 of Regulation (EU) 2018/841, referred to in point (f) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, in accordance with the format set out in Annex XVI to this Regulation. After compilation by the Commission, a summary of the information provided pursuant to this paragraph shall be made available within three months from receiving the reports by Member States, in electronic form. In this summary, the range of prices paid per land mitigation units transaction shall be provided.

Article 21

Reporting on summary information on concluded transfers in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/842

Article 22

Reporting information on intended use of flexibilities in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/842

Article 23

Reporting on the use of revenues from transfers in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/842

Member States shall report the information on the use of revenues in accordance with Article 5(6) of Regulation (EU) 2018/842 referred to in point (n) of Part 1 of Annex V to Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the format set out in Annex XIX to this Regulation.

Article 24

Reporting on accounted greenhouse gas emissions and removals

Member States shall report accounted greenhouse gas emissions and removals pursuant to Article 26(5) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 in accordance with the format set out in Annex XX.

Article 25

Timescales for cooperation and coordination in preparing the Union greenhouse gas inventory and the UNFCCC review

CHAPTER IV

REQUIREMENTS ON THE ESTABLISHMENT, OPERATION AND FUNCTIONING OF NATIONAL INVENTORY SYSTEMS

Article 26

Functions of national inventory systems

In the implementation of the national inventory systems pursuant to Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999, each Member State shall:

(a) establish and maintain the institutional, legal and procedural arrangements necessary to perform the functions pursuant to Articles 27 to 29, between the government agencies and other entities responsible for the performance of all functions;

(b) ensure sufficient capacity for timely performance of the functions pursuant to Articles 27 to 29, including data collection for estimating anthropogenic GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks and arrangements for technical competence of the staff involved in the inventory development process.

Article 27

Inventory planning

As part of its inventory planning, each Member State shall:

(a) designate a single national entity with overall responsibility for the national inventory and make available its postal and electronic addresses;

(b) define and allocate specific responsibilities in the inventory development process, including those relating to choice of methods, data collection, particularly activity data and emission factors from statistical services and other entities, processing and archiving, and quality control and quality assurance;

(c) elaborate an inventory quality assurance and quality control plan which describes specific quality control procedures to be implemented during the inventory development process, facilitate the overall quality assurance procedures to be conducted and establish quality objectives;

(d) consider establishing processes for the official consideration and approval of the inventory, if relevant including any recalculations, prior to its submission and to respond to any issues raised by the inventory review processes.

Article 28

Inventory preparation

In accordance with the greenhouse gas inventory guidelines, each Member State shall:

(a) identify key categories and prepare estimates applying appropriate methods to estimate emissions and removals from key categories;

(b) collect sufficient activity data, process information and emission factors necessary to support the methods selected for estimating anthropogenic GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks;

(c) make a quantitative estimate of inventory uncertainty for each category and for the inventory in total and prepare recalculations of previously submitted estimates of anthropogenic GHG emissions by sources and removals by sinks;

(d) compile the national inventory and implement general inventory quality control procedures in accordance with their quality assurance and quality control plan.

As part of its inventory preparation, each Member State shall where appropriate:

(a) apply category-specific quality control procedures for key categories and for individual categories where significant methodological and/or data revisions have occurred, in accordance with the greenhouse gas inventory guidelines;

(b) provide for a basic review of the inventory by an independent third party or personnel not involved in the inventory development,, before the submission of the inventory, in accordance with the planned quality assurance procedures referred to in Article 27(1)(c);

(c) provide for a more extensive review for key categories and categories where significant changes in methods occurred;

(d) based on the reviews according to the transparency MPGs and in accordance with Article 38 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 and periodic internal evaluations of the inventory preparation process, re-evaluate the inventory planning process in order to meet the established quality objectives referred to in Article 27(1)(c) of this Regulation.

Article 29

Inventory management

As part of their inventory management, each Member State shall:

(a) each year for the reported time series, archive inventory information including: all disaggregated emission factors, activity data, and documentation about how these were generated and aggregated; internal documentation on quality assurance and quality control procedures, external and internal reviews, documentation on annual key sources and key source identification and planned inventory improvements.

(b) provide review teams under the transparency MPGs and Article 38 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1999 with access to all archived information used by the Member State to prepare the inventory, taking into account country-specific confidentiality rules.

(c) respond to requests for clarifying inventory information resulting from the different stages of the review processes of the inventory information, and information on the national system, in a timely manner.

CHAPTER V

PROCEDURE AND SCHEDULE FOR CARRYING OUT THE COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Article 30

Procedure for the comprehensive review

Article 31

Technical corrections

Article 32

Final review reports

The Commission shall inform the Member State concerned of the end of the comprehensive review and provide the Member State with a final review report by 30 August 2025, 30 August 2027 and 30 August 2032 respectively.

Article 33

Cooperation with Member States

Member States shall:

(a) participate in the review pursuant to the schedule set out in Annex XXII;

(b) nominate a National contact point for the Union’s review;

(c) participate in and facilitate the organisation of an in-country visit, if needed;