The Commission adopted on 17 October a delegated regulation establishing a new Auctioning Regulation following the revision of the ETS Directive in the context of the Fit for 55 and REPowerEU. Following adoption, the act was submitted to the European Parliament and Council for scrutiny. Provided that those institutions do not raise any objections within two months, the delegated act will be published in the Official Journal and enter into force thereafter.
The EU ETS auction calendars for 2024 for general and aviation allowances will be published after the entry into force of the new Auctioning Regulation, allowing the auction calendars to take into account the provisions of the new delegated regulation. The publication of the auction calendars is therefore scheduled for the week of 18 December 2023 and the first auctions in 2024 are expected to start from 15 January.
To provide market participants with sufficient advance notice and taking into account the entry into force of the revised Auctioning Regulation, this regulatory update provides an estimate of the 2024 auction volumes for general allowances. Therefore, it is envisaged that:
- A total of 244 422 500 general allowances (EUAs) will be auctioned for the Member States during the period January – August 2024. The final quantity of allowances to be auctioned for the Member States between September – December 2024 is subject to the functioning of the Market Stability Reserve and will be published by 31 July 2024.
- A total of 86 685 000 EUAs will be auctioned for the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) during the period January – December 2024, out of which:
- 52 011 000 EUAs, which are reallocated from the Innovation Fund to the RRF, contributing towards the target of EUR 12 billion in the context of REPowerEU (Article 10e(2) of the ETS Directive).
- 34 674 000 EUAs, which would otherwise be auctioned for the Member States in 2027-2030, contributing towards the target of EUR 8 billion for the RRF in the context of REPowerEU (Article 10e(3) of the ETS Directive).
- A total of 35 417 500 EUAs will be auctioned for the Innovation Fund during the period January – December 2024. This quantity of allowances is net of the allowances allocated from the Innovation Fund to the RRF indicated above. .
- A total of 96 951 500 EUAs will be auctioned for the Modernisation Fund during the period January – December 2024.
In addition, a total of 8 511 000 aviation allowances will be auctioned in 2024 for the Member States in dedicated aviation auctions.
The 2024 auction volumes are calculated based on the revised ETS Directive, including the reduction of the cap and the linear reduction factor, the addition of maritime transport in the scope of the ETS, changes to the share of free allocation for aviation, as well as changes to the quantity of allowances allocated to the Innovation Fund and Modernisation Fund. In addition, the 2024 auction volume takes into account elements introduced by the new Auctioning Regulation, such as the quantity of allowances to be auctioned for the RRF and the possibility of frontloading allowances for the Innovation Fund to fulfill the objectives of REPowerEU.
This estimate of the 2024 auction volume is preliminary and subject to confirmation by the publication of the auction calendars after the entry into force of the new Auctioning Regulation.
