Aircraft operators which fall within the scope of the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) must have an up-to-date monitoring plan which has been approved by the NEa.
Drafting the monitoring plan
All aircraft operators that participate in the EU ETS, CH ETS and CORSIA must first have an approved emissions monitoring plan prior to submitting an annual CO2 emissions report. Aircraft operators need to monitor flight activities to determine inclusion in the EU ETS. The monitoring plan is the basis for the annual emissions report. It includes appropriate procedures to track aircraft fleet, monitor fuel consumption and assign flights to the appropriate greenhouse gas emission reduction systems (EU ETS, CH ETS, CORSIA).
The emissions monitoring plan template is available for download from the European Commission.
Changes to the monitoring plan
If monitoring changes are made throughout the year, including changes in contact details, an updated monitoring plan must be submitted to the NEa. Please submit monitoring plan changes via the ETS Reporting Tool.
Edit your monitoring plan in the Monitoring Plan details page and click ‘Edit’ (right bottom of the page). Choose in the drop-down menu under ‘Revision type’ whether the change entails a significant or non-significant modification of the monitoring plan and upload the new version.
For additional guidance on whether a monitoring plan change is considered significant or not, please consult the guidance document from the Commission.
Small emitters
Small emitters may use simplified monitoring, reporting and verification procedures. These aircraft operators are allowed to submit a simplified EU ETS report, generated by the Small Emitters Tool of the ETS support facility of Eurocontrol. The report does not need to be verified by an external independent auditor. An aircraft operator is considered a small emitter when meeting the following thresholds:
- Emissions of less than 25.000 tonnes CO2 per year from flights falling under the ETS ‘full scope’ (all flights departing from or arriving at an aerodrome located in the European Economic Area (EEA, consisting of EU Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway)); or
- Emissions of less than 3.000 tonnes CO2 per year from flights falling under the ETS ‘reduced scope’ (all flights departing and arriving at an aerodrome located in the EEA, including international flights between an EEA State and an outermost region located in another EEA state, and flights departing from the EEA and outermost regions to Switzerland and the United Kingdom).
Monitoring and Reporting Regulation and guidance
The Monitoring and Reporting Regulation (MRR) for the EU ETS regulates the obligations for aircraft operators to monitor and report emissions for the EU ETS and CORSIA.
The European Commission has a detailed guidance document available to help determine monitoring and reporting obligations for Aircraft Operators for the EU ETS and CORSIA: MRR Guidance document No. 2 (2023)
For additional guidance on monitoring, reporting and verification of aviation please consult the website from the European Commission: Monitoring, reporting and verification of EU ETS emissions (europa.eu)