Eight EU countries were sent first warning letters on 12 October for failing to meet a 30 June deadline to submit their national allocation plans (NAPs) in time for the second phase of the EU emissions trading scheme (EU-ETS).
The member states concerned are: Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
"To give certainty to the emissions trading market it is important that the national allocation processes are finalised well before the start of the next trading period beginning in January 2008," explained Stavros Dimas, the EU Commissioner in charge of environmental policies.
The deadline to submit the plans was initially set at 30 June but was later postponed when it became apparent that most member states would fail to meet it.
The second phase of the scheme, which runs from 2008 to 2012, coincides with the period during which the EU is to meet its Kyoto target to reduce emissions of global warming gases by 8% compared with 1990 levels.
In a parallel move, the Commission warned seven member states for failing to provide technical information related to a monitoring mechanism for greenhouse gas emissions.
France, Estonia, Greece, Lithuania and Poland will receive first warning letters while Germany and Luxembourg, who were already warned in April, will now receive final warnings, the Commission said.
