Malta gets three warnings on climate change obligations

The European Commission yesterday officially informed Malta of the start of three infringement procedures over its nonconformity with EU climate change rules.

Legal action has been started against Malta over its failure to link its national emissions trading register with the EU-wide registry system, for not submitting information on policies and measures on its emission projections and for not giving information on greenhouse gas emissions for 2004.

The Commission explained that the aim of these legal procedures is to ensure that the EU and all its member states meet their various reporting obligations under the UN Climate Change Convention and the Kyoto Protocol. Part of the Commission's legal action also aims to ensure that the EU Emissions Trading Scheme becomes fully operational.

Five member states including Malta have still not linked up to the EU-wide electronic registries system for emissions trading despite a December 2004 deadline to do so. According to the Commission, in order to link up to the registries system, each member state must establish a national registry in the form of a standardised electronic database as well as a communication link.

The Commission said that due to delays in obtaining and assessing national allocation plans, the Commission has only now decided to initiate infringement procedures for failure to do so. It has therefore sent the first warning letters to Malta, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg and Poland over this issue.

The Commission said that due to this shortfall, companies in these countries can only trade allowances on a forward basis and are currently deprived of spot trading until the link-up is made.

With regards to the other infringements, the Commission said that a second written warning has been sent to Malta for not reporting, as obliged, its policies and measures taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is preventing the EU from monitoring the process. Malta was already warned over this issue last October.

Finally, the Commission warned Malta for not reporting its data on greenhouse gas emissions for 2004.

Malta will be taken to court if it continues to ignore these obligations.