Considerations on COM(2017)427 - Conclusion of an Agreement with Switzerland on the Linking of their Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Systems

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dossier COM(2017)427 - Conclusion of an Agreement with Switzerland on the Linking of their Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Systems.
document COM(2017)427 EN
date January 23, 2018
 
table>(1)In accordance with Council Decision (EU) 2017/2240 (2), the Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the linking of their greenhouse gas emissions trading systems (the ‘Agreement’) was signed on 23 November 2017, subject to its conclusion at a later date.
(2)Cap and trade systems are policy tools that cost-effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Linking cap and trade systems is expected to result in broader carbon pricing, increasing the availability of reduction opportunities and enhancing the cost-efficiency of emissions trading. The development of a well-functioning international carbon market through bottom-up linking of emissions trading systems (‘ETS’) is a long term policy goal of the Union and the international community, notably as a means to achieve the climate objectives, including under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

(3)The Agreement should be approved.

(4)It is essential that aviation be covered by the Swiss ETS in order to link the Swiss ETS with the Union's ETS. While the Swiss ETS does not yet cover aviation, the Swiss Confederation is working on rules extending its ETS to aviation. The Agreement should not enter into force until those rules are in place and Annex I, Part B of the Agreement is amended to refer to those rules,