EU countries miss CO2 emissions trading deadline

More than half of the 25 EU countries failed to present their new allocation plans for CO2 emissions before the June 30 deadline.

Just 11 member states had drawn up new national allocation plans - part of the EU’s emissions trading scheme - by the due date.

France, Germany and Spain were among the countries that missed the deadline; in contrast, the UK’s plan was published several months ago.

But the European commission cannot sanction countries for failing to meet the deadline - though it does have the right to veto the action plans.

EU governments allocate CO2 emission rights to heavy industries, which can then be traded with other companies if the quotas are not filled.

Brussels has recently revealed that greenhouse gas emissions from the EU15 rose by 0.3 per cent between 2003 and 2004.

Under the Kyoto protocol on climate change, the EU has pledged cut its CO2 emissions by eight per cent below 1990 levels by 2012.

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