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Simplification · FRE-05

Draw up an Invest in EU decarbonisation plan and satisfy the 80/20 tranching conditionality attached to free allocation.

Top-10%-most-efficient, zero-/low-carbon, and voluntarily-remaining installations must comply, and this is not law yet.

Why it matters

This is a Commission proposal: it is not law yet, and it can change before it is.

  • It is Art. 1(15)(d), inserting Art. 10a(3c), sixth subparagraph of Directive 2003/87/EC, in the EU ETS revision. as of 2026-08-14
  • The act gives its timing as: from 2031. as of 2026-08-14
  • It names no industry: it applies across the economy rather than to one of them. as of 2026-08-14
  • Compliance is checked by none, per five-year period. as of 2026-08-14
Addressee Top-10%-most-efficient, zero-/low-carbon, and voluntarily-remaining installationsAct COM(2026) 616 final, 2026/0212 (COD)Article Art. 1(15)(d), inserting Art. 10a(3c), sixth subparagraph of Directive 2003/87/ECClass Businesses

The rule

New — no predecessor
Trigger

installation is among the 10% most efficient in its sector, or is zero-emissions/low-carbon, or has opted to remain in the EU ETS under Art. 2(1)

Obligation

Draw up an Invest in EU decarbonisation plan and satisfy the 80/20 tranching conditionality attached to free allocation.

Who is affected

Addressee
Top-10%-most-efficient, zero-/low-carbon, and voluntarily-remaining installations
Class
Businesses
Sectors
No sector named — applies by size or activity
Applies
from 2031

Burden drivers

No burden drivers recorded on this provision.

Source text

Verbatim

The requirements set out in paragraph 3b and in the first and third subparagraphs of this paragraph shall not apply to the 10 % most efficient installations in a sector or subsector in the Union referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 10a(2) and in respect of the years used to determine the revised benchmark values pursuant to the third subparagraph of that Article for the relevant five-year free allocation period, to zero emissions or low-carbon installations, to installations for which the operators, following a change in their production processes in accordance with Article 2(1), decide that they are is to remain within the scope of the EU ETS.

View source →

Settled later in secondary legislation. Detailed criteria for what qualifies as a 'zero emissions or low carbon installation' are left to a delegated act under Art. 10a(3e)(g), not yet adopted.