In December 2021, the European Commission published the communication ‘Sustainable Carbon Cycles’, which outlined the design of the EU-wide Carbon Removal Certification Framework and was assessed by UBA.

The final draft regulation was published on 30/11/2022 and underwent negotiation in 2023 under the Swedish and Spanish Council presidencies. Following the agreement, it must be immediately implemented in the EU Member States. An assessment of the draft regulation was conducted by UBA as a research project.

The planned voluntary EU-wide regulatory framework concerns the certification of carbon removal. Its aim is to make investments in carbon removal and their long-term storage within the EU Member States as attractive as possible. Both processes in the land use sector and technical processes are included: the EU Commission distinguishes between carbon farming, industrial processes and biogenic Carbon Capture in Products or Carbon Capture Usage and Storage.

The declared aim of the certification framework is to contribute to the 2050 climate neutrality target and other environmental goals in addition to ensuring high-quality carbon removal. To this end, a framework for quality criteria is being created to ensure as sustainable and environmentally friendly carbon removal as possible. In addition, rules for monitoring, reporting and verification of carbon removals (MRV) and the recognition of external certification bodies have been established.

On 20/02/2024, the EU Commission welcomed the preliminary agreement between the European Parliament and the Council of EU states on the first EU-wide voluntary framework for carbon removals. Now the European Parliament and the Council must formally confirm the agreement. Once this process is completed, the new legislation will be published in the Official Journal of the Union and will come into force.