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17 JULY 2015. - Act enacting the cooperation agreement between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region, concerning the transfer of units of quantity attributed to the regions for the period 2008-2012 (1)

PHILIPPE, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The House of Representatives adopted and sanctioned the following:
Article 1^er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 74 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Assent is given to the cooperation agreement between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region relating to the transfer of units of quantity attributed to the regions for the period 2008-2012, concluded in Brussels on 17 July 2015, annexed to this Act.
Art. 3. This Act comes into force on the day of its publication in the Belgian Monitor.
Promulgate this Act, order that it be put on the State Seal and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 17 July 2015.
PHILIPPE
By the King:
The Minister of Energy,
Ms. M.C. MARGHEM
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
K. GEENS
____
Note
(1) House of Representatives
(www.lachambre.be)
Documents: 54 1439
Full report : 13 January 2016
Agreement of cooperation of 17 July 2015 between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region relating to the transfer of units of quantity attributed to the regions for the period 2008-2012
Having regard to Article 39 of the Constitution;
Having regard to the special law of 8 August 1980 on institutional reform, article 6, § 1, II, 1° and article 92bis, § 1, inserted by the special law of 8 August 1988 and amended by the special law of 16 July 1993;
Having regard to the special law of 12 January 1989 on the Brussels Institutions, article 42;
Having regard to the cooperation agreement of 14 November 2002 between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region on the establishment, execution and monitoring of a National Climate Plan, as well as the reporting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol;
Considering the cooperation agreement of 19 February 2007 between the Federal Authority, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region on the implementation of certain provisions of the Kyoto Protocol;
Considering the cooperation agreement of 18 June 2008 between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region on the organization and administrative management of the standardized and secure registry system of Belgium in accordance with Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and the Council and Decision No. 280/2004/EC of the European Parliament and the Council;
In view of the decision of the Concertation Committee of 8 March 2004 on the allocation of national charges related to the Kyoto Protocol (item 1: Kyoto: allocation of national charges);
Considering that pursuant to Article 15, § 4 of the cooperation agreement of 19 February 2007, a region may request in writing to the registry administrator that a limited part of the assigned amount to Belgium be transferred from the deposit account of the Party of Belgium to a deposit account specially opened for that purpose by the region concerned, provided that this amount is retransfered before the end of the first commitment period and before the verification,
Considering that this part is limited for each region to a maximum of 5% of five times the greenhouse gas emissions in the reference year in the region concerned, reduced by 7.5%;
Considering that in order to effect this transfer, the registry administrator must therefore have final emission figures in the reference year in the region concerned;
Considering that the confirmation of these figures in a cooperation agreement guarantees legal security;
Considering that these figures are already established by the national inventory of greenhouse gas emissions of 2006, as revised following the review of the "initial report" of Belgium issued in accordance with Article 7 § 1 of Decision No. 280/2004/EC;
Considering that, in accordance with international rules, greenhouse gas emissions are recorded in inventories submitted to the European Union and the United Nations. For the road transport sector, inventories are based on greenhouse gas emissions calculated on fuel sales. These statistics are published by the Federal Public Service Economics.
Considering that transport statistics published by the Federal Public Service Mobility in 2008 have undergone significant changes, resulting in a discrepancy between the estimation of regional greenhouse gas emissions attributed to the road transport sector for the reference year and the estimation of these emissions for each year of the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, namely 2008-2012;
Considering that these discrepancies affect the comparability of regional emission inventories for the base year and years of the commitment period;
The Federal State represented by the Federal Government, in the person of the Prime Minister and the Minister of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development
The Flemish Region represented by the Flemish Government, in the person of the Minister-President and the Minister of the Environment, Nature and Agriculture;
The Walloon Region represented by the Walloon Government, in the person of the Minister-President and the Minister of Local Authorities, the City, Housing and Energy;
The Brussels-Capital Region, represented by the Government of Brussels-Capital, in the person of the Minister-President, and the Minister of Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy,
The following agreed:
Article 1^er. For the purposes of this cooperation agreement, the following means:
1st Register Administrator: the person(s) that manage and maintain the registry in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2003/87/EC, Decision No. 280/2004/EC and Regulation (EC) No. 994/2008;
2° assigned amount: the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, expressed in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, calculated according to the emission levels determined in accordance with Article 7 of Decision 280/2004/EC;
3° unit of assigned amount (UQA): a unit issued in accordance with Article 7, § 3 of Decision No. 280/2004/EC;
4th base year: the year 1990 for carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen protoxide and the year 1995 for sulphur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons.
Art. 2. The total greenhouse gas emissions during the base year of the first commitment period are:
1° for the Flemish Region: 86.986.744 tonnes CO2 equivalent;
2° for the Walloon Region: 54.725.028 tonnes CO2 equivalent;
3° for the Brussels-Capital Region: 4.016.991 tonnes CO2 equivalent.
Art. 3. In accordance with Article 15, § 4 of the cooperation agreement of 19 February 2007, the maximum volume of assigned units that the registry administrator can transfer to a region is:
1° for the Flemish Region: 20.115.685 UQA;
2° for the Walloon Region: 12.655.163 UQA;
3° for the Brussels-Capital Region: 928.929 UQA.
Art. 4. The region addresses its request for transfer to the registry administrator, by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. At the same time, it sends a copy to the President of the National Climate Commission, by registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt. The President of the National Climate Commission transmits this copy to all members of the National Climate Commission.
Art. 5. For the purposes of Article 16 of the cooperation agreement of 19 February 2007 between the Federal Authority, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region relating to the implementation of certain provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, the following shall be applied:
- the three regions will use harmonized models and the calculation of the fuel surplus as specified in the Appendix to this Agreement;
- the inventory of emissions attributed to the road transport sector of the Brussels-Capital Region will be prepared on the basis of the number of kilometres taken into account in the preparation of the 2008 emission inventory submitted to the international fora in 2010, to which is applied, each year from the year 2008, the annual rate of evolution of the number of kilometres travelled selected for the development of emission inventories submitted to the year 2012 (2010).
Art. 6. Any disputes arising between Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or execution of this cooperation agreement shall be settled within the National Climate Commission, or in the absence of a solution, within the framework of the Interministerial Conference of the Expanded Environment and, where appropriate, the Consultative Committee. In the absence of a solution, the dispute will be submitted to a court whose members will be designated and whose operating costs will be apportioned in accordance with Article 24 of the cooperation agreement of 14 November 2002.
Art. 7. This cooperation agreement shall be concluded for an indefinite period. Each Contracting Party may denounce it with a notice of six months.
Art. 8. The cooperation agreement is issued to the Belgian Monitor by the Central Secretariat of the Consultation Committee as soon as all Contracting Parties have agreed.
Established in Brussels on 17 July 2015 as many copies as there are Contracting Parties.
For the federal state:
The Prime Minister,
Ch. MICHEL
Minister of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development,
Ms. M.C. MARGHEM
For the Flemish Region:
The Minister-President of the Flemish Government,
G. BOURGEOIS
Flemish Minister of the Environment, Nature and Agriculture,
Ms. J. SCHAUVLIEGE
For the Walloon Region:
Minister-President of the Walloon Government,
P. MAGNETTE
Walloon Minister of Local Authorities, City, Housing and Energy,
P. FURLAN
For the Brussels-Capital Region:
Minister-President of the Government of Brussels-Capital,
R. VERVOORT
The Brussels Minister of Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy,
Ms. C. FREMAULT

Annex 1
Harmonization of road transport emissions
Status of discussions at 1/9/2013
For the purposes of Article 16 of the cooperation agreement of 19 February 2007 between the Federal Authority, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region relating to the implementation of certain provisions of the Kyoto Protocol, the three Regions will use harmonized models and the surplus fuel will be calculated according to the agreements reproduced below. At the beginning of 2014, the emission inventories of the three Regions for the period 2008-2012 will be calculated in accordance with the most recent progress in the process of harmonization of regional models and verification of federal data, currently under way in the ad-hoc road transport group of the GT Emissions of the International Environmental Policy Coordination Committee (CCPIE), which is reported below. For the assessment of the conformity of the Brussels-Capital Region, the inventory of the emissions attributed to the road transport sector of the Brussels-Capital Region will be prepared on the basis of the number of kilometres travelled taken into account in the preparation of the emission inventory submitted to the international authorities in 2010, to which is applied, each year as of 2008, the annual rate of the number of kilometres selected for the preparation of inventories submitted in 2010 will be applied.
The process of harmonization of regional models includes the following agreements (state of the premises):
(1) Use of emission functions from the European model COPERT:
o Each Region uses the emission functions as repeated in the European model COPERT 4.
o This model is regularly adapted (version 10.0 being the last available version). Each year in March, the ad hoc road transport group determines which version of COPERT will be used (for the next year's submission) and which years will be recalculated with the new version.
(2) Common modelling parameters:
o The COPERT parameter "Improved fuel quality" is enabled.
o The COPERT parameter "Mileage degradation" is enabled and calibrated with "IM Effect" and with the default values of COPERT.
o The source for the COPERT parameter "Rate vapour pressure" is the FAPETRO.
o Road slot: this parameter is not taken into account.
o HDV loading rate (heavy duty vehicules): 50%.
o Sulphur content: determined by FAPETRO.
o The emission functions of Euro 4 diesel (personal cars) with particulate filter are only corrected for PM and not for other emissions (the way it will be carried out will be discussed within the ad hoc group).
o Overconsumption related to the use of AIRCO is recorded from version 10.0 of COPERT 4.
o All Regions use the SPF Finance data (transmitted by the VITO) to determine the share of biofuels. Biofuels will be considered non-CO2 emitters. The impact of biofuels on the emission functions of other air pollutants (CH4 and N2O) will not be taken into account (as long as COPERT does not support mixtures ("blend").
(3) Specific parameters of the Regions for modelling:
o "Triplengte": specific to each Region; adaptations take place in mutual consultation on the basis of new publications.
o Temperature: Uccle data are used by the Brussels-Capital Region and the Walloon Region; for the Flemish Region, it is necessary to have data per hour that CELINE provides on the basis of the Flemish regional telemetric network.
o Speeds: regional data are used.
4) Joint management fleet processing module for vehicle registration (DIV) and related transport statistics:
o Each Region will use the park module that will be developed in 2013 on behalf of the AWAC to process the DIV data and other related transport statistics as input for regional emission models. The development of this module will be managed by an accompanying committee in which each Region will be represented.
5) Joint Mobility Allocation Module (number of vehicles-kilometres travelled):
o Each region will use the "ECONOTEC" module for the assignment of mobility as an input for regional emission models. This module will be adapted by CELINE in the course of 2013 taking into account the requirements of the Brussels Capital Region and the Flemish Region.
Some items still need to be specified in the road transport working group and the 2014 inventories will have to take into account the latest decisions to be taken in the ad hoc road transport group, including:
o Harmonization of overconsumption related to air conditioning.
o "Triplengte": determination of a harmonized method.
o Average speeds: an opportunity to determine a harmonized method.
o Affectation of vehicles-kilometers covered by COPERT's "driving mode": an opportunity to determine a harmonized method.
For the accounting of consumption and CO2 emissions based on the models and on the federal energy ratios (reference approach), the following points are taken into account:
• in regional models, both consumption and emissions are based on COPERT formulas and emission factors.
• CO2 emissions reported under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change are based on federal energy statistics (reference approach) and are based on COPERT emission factors.
The establishment and sharing of surplus fuel (difference between the sum of regional models and the federal energy balance data) is as follows:
• The difference between the sum of the regional models and the data from the federal energy balance (reference approach) is calculated by fuel type. This surplus is then distributed by Region on the basis of their respective contribution. Each fuel has a specific emission factor. The quantities of fuel (in tonnes) are multiplied by their specific emission factor (expressed in kg CO2/kg of fuel from COPERT) to obtain CO2 emissions.
• The following corrections are to be implemented:
o Correction of off-road energy consumption for gasoline (based on OFFREM modelling).
o Correction related to the energy content of biofuels: following the addition of biofuels in fossil fuels, the mixture obtained does not have the same energy content as the fossil equivalent used by models.
Points for further improvements in federal energy data
o The SPF Economie gathers information on densities used by declarants.
o The SPF Finance transmits data on the number of litres of road transport fuel, as well as information on how this information was calculated/collected, to the ad-hoc road transport group, so that the data sets are harmonized with each other.
o The ad-hoc road transport group will thoroughly check the 2005-2008 energy statistics based on the figures issued by SPF Finance.
o As of 2014, the division into sectors carried out by the SPF Economie will be validated and possibly improved based on data collected at the regional level. Both the group CONCERE Energy Balance and the working group ad-hoc Road transport are concerned here.
With respect to the international emission ratio of CH4 and N2O (which must also be carried out according to the reference approach), a supplement is calculated according to a rule of three (the "fuel sold"/"fuel used" ratio per fuel type) applied to the results of the regional models. The method is as follows: make the sum of CH4 and N2O emissions from regional models (by fuel type) and make a correction according to the "fuel sold"/"fuel used" ratio by fuel type.
(CH4)BE "fuel sold" = (CH4) sum of regional models "fuel used" X tons of fuels (ventes BE) "fuel sold"/tonnes of fuels (sum of regional models) "fuel used".
Same for N2O.
Seen to be annexed to the cooperation agreement of 17 July 2015 between the Federal State, the Flemish Region, the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region relating to the transfer of units of quantity attributed to the regions for the period 2008-2012,
Brussels, 17 July 2015.
For the federal state:
The Prime Minister,
Ch. MICHEL
Minister of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development,
Ms. M.C. MARGHEM
For the Flemish Region:
The Minister-President of the Flemish Government,
G. BOURGEOIS
Flemish Minister of the Environment, Nature and Agriculture,
Ms. J. SCHAUVLIEGE
For the Walloon Region:
Minister-President of the Walloon Government,
P. MAGNETTE
Walloon Minister of Local Authorities, City, Housing and Energy,
P. FURLAN
For the Brussels-Capital Region:
Minister-President of the Government of Brussels-Capital,
R. VERVOORT
The Brussels Minister of Housing, Quality of Life, Environment and Energy,
Ms. C. FREMAULT