Article 10a › 1

The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 23 to supplement this Directive concerning the Union-wide and fully harmonised rules for the allocation of allowances referred to in paragraphs 4, 5, 7 and 19 of this Article. The measures referred to in the first subparagraph shall, to the extent feasible, determine ►M9 Union ◄ -wide ex-ante benchmarks so as to ensure that allocation takes place in a manner that provides incentives for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficient techniques, by taking account of the most efficient techniques, substitutes, alternative production processes, high efficiency cogeneration, efficient energy recovery of waste gases, use of biomass and capture and storage of CO2, where such facilities are available, and shall not provide incentives to increase emissions. No free allocation shall be made in respect of any electricity production, except for cases falling within Article 10c and electricity produced from waste gases. If an installation is covered by the obligation to conduct an energy audit or to implement a certified energy management system under Article 8 of Directive 2012/27/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 17 ) and if the recommendations of the audit report or of the certified energy management system are not implemented, unless the pay-back time for the relevant investments exceeds three years or unless the costs of those investments are disproportionate, then the amount of free allocation shall be reduced by 20 %. The amount of free allocation shall not be reduced if an operator demonstrates that it has implemented other measures which lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions equivalent to those recommended by the audit report or by the certified energy management system for the installation concerned. The Commission shall supplement this Directive by providing, in the delegated acts adopted pursuant to this paragraph and without prejudice to the rules applicable under Directive 2012/27/EU, for administratively simple harmonised rules for the application of the third subparagraph of this paragraph that ensure that the application of the conditionality does not jeopardise a level playing field, environmental integrity or equal treatment between installations across the Union. Those harmonised rules shall in particular provide for timelines, for criteria for the recognition of implemented energy efficiency measures as well as for alternative measures reducing greenhouse gas emissions, using the procedure for national implementing measures in accordance with Article 11(1) of this Directive. In addition to the requirements set out in the third subparagraph of this paragraph, the reduction by 20 % referred to in that subparagraph shall be applied where, by 1 May 2024, operators of installations whose greenhouse gas emission levels are higher than the 80th percentile of emission levels for the relevant product benchmarks have not established a climate-neutrality plan for each of those installations for its activities covered by this Directive. That plan shall contain the elements specified in Article 10b(4) and be established in accordance with the implementing acts provided for in that Article. Article 10b(4) shall be read as only referring to the installation level. The achievement of the targets and milestones referred to in Article 10b(4), third subparagraph, point (b), shall be verified in respect of the period until 31 December 2025 and in respect of each period ending 31 December of each fifth year thereafter, in accordance with the verification and accreditation procedures provided for in Article 15. No free allowances beyond 80 % shall be allocated if achievement of the intermediate targets and milestones has not been verified in respect of the period until the end of 2025 or in respect of the period from 2026 to 2030. Allowances that are not allocated due to a reduction of free allocation in accordance with the third and fifth subparagraphs of this paragraph shall be used to exempt installations from the adjustment in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Article. Where any such allowances remain, 50 % of those allowances shall be made available to support innovation in accordance with paragraph 8 of this Article. The other 50 % of those allowances shall be auctioned in accordance with Article 10(1) of this Directive and Member States should use the respective revenues to address any residual risk of carbon leakage in the sectors covered by Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2023/956, supporting the transition and promoting their decarbonisation in accordance with State aid rules. No free allocation shall be given to installations in sectors or subsectors to the extent they are covered by other measures to address the risk of carbon leakage as established by Regulation (EU) 2023/956. The measures referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall be adjusted accordingly. For each sector and subsector, in principle, the benchmark shall be calculated for products rather than for inputs, in order to maximise greenhouse gas emission reductions and energy efficiency savings throughout each production process of the sector or the subsector concerned. In order to provide further incentives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving energy efficiency and to ensure a level playing field for installations using new technologies that partly reduce or fully eliminate greenhouse gas emissions, and installations using existing technologies, the determined Union-wide ex-ante benchmarks shall be reviewed in relation to their application in the period from 2026 to 2030, with a view to potentially modifying the definitions and system boundaries of existing product benchmarks, considering as guiding principles the circular use-potential of materials and that the benchmarks should be independent of the feedstock and the type of production process, where the production processes have the same purpose. The Commission shall endeavour to adopt the implementing acts for the purpose of determining the revised benchmark values for free allocation in accordance with paragraph 2, third subparagraph, as soon as possible and before the start of the period from 2026 to 2030. In defining the principles for setting ex-ante benchmarks in individual sectors and subsectors, the Commission shall consult the relevant stakeholders, including the sectors and subsectors concerned. The Commission shall, upon the approval by the ►M9 Union ◄ of an international agreement on climate change leading to mandatory reductions of greenhouse gas emissions comparable to those of the ►M9 Union ◄ , review those measures to provide that free allocation is only to take place where this is fully justified in the light of that agreement.

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Source: EUR-Lex CELLAR · retrieved 2026-08-09