EUTL glossary
Effective 6 November 2026 · Last updated 6 November 2026
Short answer. EUTL terms in plain language. Same definitions as Method and chart labels. Not the official Commission glossary.
- Auction revenue (EUR bn)
- Proceeds of EU auctions, paid to member states and EU funds.
- Auctioned (Mt)
- Allowances sold at auction (EEX; UK ICE to 2020). Auctions serve all sectors.
- Aviation adjustment (Mt)
- Aviation's net demand 2012–2023: general allowances surrendered by airlines beyond aviation allowances while aviation was outside the official surplus. The surplus still counts them. 173 Mt, the Commission's estimate in its proposal COM(2026) 616.
- Coverage (%)
- Free allocation as a share of verified emissions.
- Effort Sharing (Mt)
- Allowances cancelled because member states used them for their Effort Sharing targets.
- Free allocation (Mt)
- Allowances given to installations for free.
- In accounts today (Mt)
- Visible to market plus this year's auctions and free allocation recorded to date.
- Late reports (Mt)
- Emissions reported after the 1 April registry cut-off the Commission uses. The next notice includes them.
- Long
- Received more free allowances than it surrendered.
- MSR full-intake line
- Above the full-intake threshold the reserve withholds a set share of the surplus from future auctions. 1,096 Mt. Above it the reserve takes 24% of the surplus.
- MSR intake (Mt)
- Allowances the reserve takes out of auctions over the next 12 months, set by the Commission notice.
- MSR intake line
- Above the intake threshold the Market Stability Reserve takes allowances out of future auctions. 833 Mt.
- Net position (Mt)
- Free allocation minus surrendered. Positive: long, received more than it needed. Negative: short, had to buy.
- Official surplus (TNAC) (Mt)
- Total Number of Allowances in Circulation, published by the Commission by 1 June. The Market Stability Reserve acts on this number.
- Open compliance year
- A year is open only until 30 September of the following year. After that it is closed; installations that have not filed stay in the missing count and do not reopen the year.
- Registry extract
- Date of the EU Union Registry file the figures come from.
- Shipping not owed (Mt)
- Shipping emissions from phase-in years that were never due for surrender, so they stay in accounts and in the visible-to-market stock.
- Short
- Surrendered more than it received for free, so it had to buy.
- Shortfall cost (EUR bn)
- Allowances a plant had to buy because free allocation did not cover it, valued at that year's average EUA price. Missing allowances at the same price. Not necessarily what was paid.
- Surrendered (Mt)
- Allowances handed in for the year's emissions. Deadline 30 September of the following year.
- Verified emissions (Mt)
- Emissions checked by an accredited verifier. One allowance must be surrendered per tonne.
- Visible to market (Mt)
- Official surplus after late reports, plus shipping not owed in earlier phase-in years, minus the aviation adjustment (COM(2026) 616) and Effort Sharing cancellations.
- Windfall (EUR bn)
- Free allowances a plant received above what it surrendered, valued at that year's average EUA price. Spare free allowances at each year's average auction price. Not cash received.