The annual surrender of emission allowances by 30/09/2023 (from the reporting year 2023; previously: 30/04) in the amount of the emissions caused in the previous calendar year is a central task in emissions trading (EU ETS 1) for you as an operator of stationary installations and aircraft.
Surrender obligation
The penalties for surrender obligation infringements were 40 euros per tonne of carbon dioxide () in the first trading period and 100 euros in the second trading period.
In the third trading period (2013-2020) the penalty escalates from 100 euros per tonne of CO2 in line with the increase in the European consumer price index for the respective reporting year compared to the reference year 2012 (see § 30 (1) TEHG).
| Reporting year | Amount of payment obligation |
|---|---|
| 2013 | 101.50 Euro |
| 2014 | 102.07 Euro |
| 2015 | 102.05 Euro |
| 2016 | 102.31 Euro |
| 2017 | 104.06 Euro |
| 2018 | 106.15 Euro |
| 2019 | 107.71 Euro |
| 2020 | 107.71 Euro |
| 2021 | 110.82 Euro |
| 2022 | 121.01 Euro |
| 2023 | 128.71 Euro |
If you have surrendered the allowances according to your verified emissions report, no penalty will be imposed on you for any subsequent reporting errors discovered (see judgment of the European Court of 29/04/2015 to Az.: C-148/14).
However, if your report subsequently proves to be inaccurate and you have surrendered insufficient emission allowances to cover the emissions produced, you still remain obliged to surrender further allowances. Finally, a false report may constitute an offense (§ 32(1)(1) TEHG). This offense may be punished by a fine of up to 500,000 euros. In the case of sheer negligence, the fine is up to 50,000 euros (§ 32(4) TEHG).
532 correction and sanction measures have been initiated for stationary installations and 97 correction and sanction measures for aircraft operators in the reporting years 2013 to 2020 within the third trading period. These have resulted in 474 corrections in the Union Registry ( value) of the emissions produced in the stationary sector and 92 corrections in the aviation sector. Legally binding fines amounting to a total of 2,670,890.51 euros have been stipulated due to breaches of the annual surrender liability in the third trading period.
In the fourth trading period, 65 correction and sanction measures for stationary installations and nine correction and sanction measures for aircraft operators have been initiated so far for the first two reporting years 2021 and 2022. These have so far resulted in 52 corrections to the emissions caused in the Union Registry (VET value) in the stationary sector and six corrections in the aviation sector. Due to violations of the annual surrender obligation, sanctions amounting to 7,979.04 euros have so far been imposed in the fourth trading period.
Publication in the Federal Gazette
We regularly publish the names of the operators in the Federal Gazette who:
- have surrendered fewer allowances than were reported in their verified emissions report by the applicable deadline, or
- have not submitted a verified report or surrendered any emission allowances (§ 30(4) TEHG.) despite producing emissions.
Publication in the Federal Gazette must be preceded by a legally binding payment order.
Notices have recently been published in the editions of the Official Section of the Federal Gazette (Bundesanzeiger):
- No. 78 of 28/05/2008
- No. 134 of 09/09/2009
- No. 196 of 29/12/2011
Further notices have been published in the Official Section of the electronic Federal Gazette (BAnz AT) under the following sources:
- BAnz AT 24/09/2013 B8
- BAnz AT 17/02/2015 B6
- BAnz AT 21/02/2017 B5
- BAnz AT 28/06/2017 B6
- BAnz AT 06/11/2018 B13
- BAnz AT 13/01/2020 B9
- BAnz AT 25/01/2021 B11
- BAnz AT 19/01/2022 B13
- BAnz AT 15/03/2024 B 13
| Activity in calendar year | Operator/aircraft operator | Federal Gazette* |
|---|---|---|
| *For researching www.Bundesanzeiger.de please please choose your language in the upper right hand corner and enter the date publication into the search field „Search term”. | ||
| 2012 | STAR ARIES SHIPMGMT | 25/01/2021 |
| 2012 | Club Saab 340 | 25/01/2021 |
| 2012 | AgilesAviation GmbH & Co. KG | 25/01/2021 |
| 2013 | Fritz Winter Eisengießerei GmbH & Co KG | 21/02/2017 |
| 2013 | Reliance Commercial Dealers Ltd. | 21/02/2017 |
| 2013 | Rossiya Airlines Joint-Stock Company | 21/02/2017 |
| 2013 | Joint Stock Company Aeroflot - Russian Airlines | 06/11/2018 |
| 2014 | Rossiya Airlines Joint-Stock Company | 21/02/2017 |
| 2014 | Iraqi Airways Germany | 21/02/2017 |
| 2014 | Joint Stock Company Aeroflot - Russian Airlines | 06/11/2018 |
| 2015 | Rossiya Airlines Joint-Stock Company | 28/06/2017 |
| 2015 | BORAJET HAVACILIK | 28/06/2017 |
| 2015 | ATA CONCEPT GmbH | 28/06/2017 |
| 2015 | Joint Stock Company Aeroflot – Russian Airlines | 06/11/2018 |
| 2015 | Ilmaborglass GmbH | 25/01/2021 |
| 2016 | Rossiya Airlines Joint-Stock Company | 06/11/2018 |
| 2016 | Siberia Airlines | 06/11/2018 |
| 2016 | Joint Stock Company Aeroflot - Russian Airlines | 13/01/2020 |
| 2017 | Holzheizkraftwerk Horn GmbH & Co. KG | 13/01/2020 |
| 2017 | Iraqi Airways Company | 13/01/2020 |
| 2017 | ESWE Versorgungs AG | 25/01/2021 |
| 2017 | ImperialJet Europe GmbH | 25/01/2021 |
| 2017 | Air X Charter (Germany) GmbH & Co. KG | 15/03/2024 |
| 2018 | Blue Cube Germany Assets GmbH & Co. KG | 25/01/2021 |
| 2018 | Air Arabia Egypt | 25/01/2021 |
| 2018 | FlyEgypt | 25/01/2021 |
| 2019 | Carpenter GmbH | 19/01/2022 |
| 2019 | Rossiya Airlines Joint-Stock Company KG | 19/01/2022 |
| 2019 | Atlasjet Airlines (Atlasglobal Airlines) | 19/01/2022 |
| 2019 | Reliance Commercial Dealers Ltd. | 19/01/2022 |
| 2021 | Celanese Production Germany GmbH & Co. KG | 15/03/2024 |
| 2021 | MIC Russian Aircraft | 15/03/2024 |
| 2021 | Siberia Airlines | 15/03/2024 |
Account suspension
If you have not submitted an emission report for the previous calendar year by 31 March and not entered and confirmed any verified emissions in the Union Registry, we will suspend your account in accordance with § 29 TEHG. You can still fulfil your surrender obligations, but can no longer dispose of the allowances in your account. This means you cannot transfer your allowances to another account other than to surrender them.
The account suspension will not be lifted until a proper validated emission report has been submitted to us, or if we have estimated the emissions and made a corresponding entry in the Union Registry.
Offences
The Emissions Trading Directive requires Member States to adopt sanctions if violations take place against national regulations (Art. 16 para 1). TEHG lists a number of offenses for which fines may be imposed.
Here is a brief overview:
Report to the Central Register of Companies
Legally binding decisions regarding fines issued within the German Environment Agency’s (UBA) framework of offence procedures (see Section D) are reported to the Commercial Central (GZR) at the Federal Office of Justice (BfJ).
Section 153a(1)(1) and Section 149(2)(1)(3) of the Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO) establish an obligation for such legally binding decisions regarding fines that have been based on offences committed
- as part of or in connection with the practice of a trade or the operation of other economic companies or;
- as part of practicing a trade or other economic companies by a representative or agent within the meaning of Section 9 of the German Offences Act (OWiG) or by a person expressly designated as the person responsible by a legal provision,
if the fine exceeds 200 euros.
Any ordinary person or legal entity may request information about violations of trade law provisions and legally binding decisions on fines arising from trade law infringements that have been entered in the Commercial Central Register (GZR), insofar as they concern their business or themselves.
More information can be found on the website of the Federal Office of Justice (BfJ).