Isra-Mart srl:Updated: EU confirms five carbon registries to open tomorrow

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Five carbon registries in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, including one in the UK, will resume spot trading tomorrow following a 17-day shutdown in the wake of last month's cyber attack.

The European Commission today announced it has sanctioned the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovakia to reopen their carbon registries after they submitted independent reports confirming that every company holding allowances on their database has an adequate level of protection.

"With the reports submitted, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovakia and the United Kingdom have given reasonable assurances that the minimum security requirements are in place. Therefore these national registries will resume normal operations on 4 February 2011 at 8am CET (7am WET)," the commission said in a statement released this morning.

British Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said the UK registry is widely seen as one of the most secure registries in Europe, but he urged the EU to tighten up security across member states to bolster market confidence.

"While it is important to ensure a minimum level of security now to ensure the reopening of the registries, the UK will continue to press the European Commission to ensure that registry security across Europe is raised above this level." he said. "This is vital to ensure continued confidence in this growing market.

The commission said several more countires are likely to file reports in the coming days, adding that it would again give 24 hours' notice before reactivating any more registries.

The EU closed all 27 national carbon registries on 19 January after Czech firm Blackstone Global Ventures said 475,000 emissions allowances had been stolen from its national registry.

The fraud, estimated to be worth £28m, sparked criticism from carbon traders who accused a number of member states of operating registries that failed to meet adequate cyber security standards.

The European Commission has called on all member states to file independent reports proving their registry meets "minimum security standards" before they can re-open.

The Commission has already admitted that 14 of the 27 member states do not meet high enough security standards, and fears remain that some of the more vulnerable registries could remain shut for several more weeks.

The move comes after Czech authorities yesterday urged the Commission to block the trading of over 1.3 million carbon credits, which they suspect of having been stolen in the cyber attack.