Isra-Mart srl : Estonia Seeks Talks With EU on Carbon Emissions Permits Allocation Plan

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Estonia seeks talks with the European Union regulator to end a dispute on the Baltic country’s national plan for allocating carbon allowances from 2008 to 2012, Environment Minister Keit Pentus said.

The European Commission, the EU regulator, last month rejected Estonia’s revised national plan seeking annual CO2 limits of 14.36 million metric tons under the bloc’s emissions- trading system for the five years through 2012.

“If we’d choose to take this decision to court, it would mean the period would end before any solution could be reached in court and this would put all the participants in the trading scheme in a pretty difficult situation,” Pentus said today in the capital, Tallinn. “It may also bring claims from participants in the trading scheme against the Republic of Estonia. We want to avoid that if at all possible.”

Estonia’s position in talks with the Commission will be based on the average of proven emissions in 2005 through 2010, Pentus said. Court proceedings cannot be ruled out, she said. Estonia faces a July 11 deadline for a possible appeal.

In December 2009, the EU vetoed for a second time carbon- dioxide emission caps proposed by Estonia and Poland, urging the two member states to scale back their demands for more generous pollution limits. Estonia filed a suit against the EC in 2007 after it was awarded an annual quota of 12.7 million tons, or 52 percent of the permits requested for 2008 to 2012.