Platts: Repairing EU ETS 'more urgent than some thought': EC's Climate Action

The plummeting EU carbon price means that repairing the EU emissions trading system is more urgent, said Niels Ladefoged, member of cabinet for the European Commission's Climate Action division, speaking at a conference in Brussels on Tuesday.

"Repairing the ETS is more urgent than some thought... we can see why there is the urge for the rapid adoption of EC proposals from January," he said in response to queries over an EC reaction to a plummeting carbon price.

EU Allowances collapsed to a nine-month low March 28 with prices dropping to Eur3.71/mt by around midday -- the lowest price since July 2013 -- as traders pulled the plug on long positions amid expectations that data this Tuesday would show a significant drop in CO2 emissions across the EU ETS in 2013.

Traders said the drop indicated that EU legislation that backloads 900 million EUAs from auctions over 2014 to 2016, which initially had a positive effect prices, is now not expected to have as large an impact as anticipated.  MORE