The EU scheme, for UK buyers
EU carbon allowances: what EUAs are and how to buy them
Plenty of UK businesses owe the EU carbon market money and only find out late: an EEA site, a ship calling at an EU port, a generator in Northern Ireland, or exports caught by CBAM from 2026. Each of those needs EU Allowances, and a UK Allowance will not do.
This page covers the EU scheme only: who it captures, how EUAs are priced and sold, and the calendar it runs on. The UK scheme has its own page.
- The scheme
- EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)
- The permit
- EU Allowance (EUA): one tonne of CO2
- Report your emissions by
- 31 March each year
- Hand in your allowances by
- 30 September each year
- Where new EUAs are sold
- EEX auctions, several each week
- From 2026
- CBAM charge on goods sold into the EU
Today's price is on our live EU ETS price tool, in euros per tonne.
Who needs EUAs
The EU ETS is Europe's carbon market and the biggest in the world. It has run since 2005 and covers roughly 40 percent of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions, across the 27 EU countries plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. Power stations, heavy industry and flights within Europe form the core, and the European Commission's EU ETS pages carry the full scope rules.
Shipping joined in 2024, phased in gently: ships paid for 40 percent of their emissions in 2024, 70 percent in 2025, and pay the full amount from 2026. A vessel calling at EU ports builds up an EUA bill even when its owner sits in Liverpool.
For UK companies the edge cases matter more than the core scheme. Electricity generators in Northern Ireland stay in the EU scheme rather than the UK one. Sites in Europe, flights within Europe and EU port calls all create EU obligations that sit alongside any UK ones. Which side captures what is mapped in our comparison of how the UK and EU emissions trading schemes compare, and the mechanics are covered in what carbon allowances are and who needs them.
What an EUA costs, and where the price comes from
An EUA is a permit to release one tonne of carbon dioxide, priced in euros. New allowances are sold at auctions several times a week on the EEX exchange, and businesses trade them between each other every day in between. Allowances live in an online account called the Union Registry.
We publish the live EU allowance price we trade against, in euros with a pounds equivalent, alongside the gap against the UK price. The two prices move independently, and however they compare on the day, you cannot hand in the cheaper unit in the other scheme.
Buying works the same way as the UK market, just with different plumbing: open the registry account, buy at auction or on screen, hand in by the deadline. The step-by-step version is in our guide to how to buy carbon allowances online.
The EU compliance calendar
EU operators report their checked emissions by 31 March and hand in their EUAs by 30 September. The September date is new: it moved back from 30 April in 2024. That gives EU compliance a six-month gap between the report and the hand-in, far more generous than the four weeks UK operators get.
That generosity is a trap for groups in both schemes. Teams fix on the later date, treat carbon as a September problem, and let the UK's 30 April deadline arrive unfunded. Run two calendars, and fund the UK one first.
CBAM: the EU carbon price reaches UK exporters
From 2026 the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism starts charging for real: companies importing goods such as steel, cement, aluminium and fertiliser into the EU must buy CBAM certificates priced off the EUA market. A UK manufacturer selling those goods into the EU carries that cost, with no EU site, no registry account and no say in the price.
That makes the EUA price a UK business number even for companies the EU ETS itself never touches. It is also why the May 2025 agreement to work towards joining the UK and EU schemes matters: joined markets would narrow the gap the border charge exists to police. Until that happens, plan on two markets and two prices.
EU carbon allowances: the questions buyers ask
- Why would a UK business need EU allowances?
- Four common reasons: installations in an EU or EEA country, flights within the EEA, ships calling at EU ports, and electricity generation in Northern Ireland, which stays under the EU ETS rather than the UK scheme. Any of these creates an EU obligation that only EUAs can settle, regardless of what the business holds in the UK Registry.
- Who runs EU allowance auctions?
- EEX, the European Energy Exchange, acts as the common auction platform for the EU ETS and runs several auctions each week. Between auctions EUAs trade continuously on the secondary market. Prices are quoted in euros per tonne of CO2 equivalent.
- When is the EU ETS surrender deadline?
- 30 September. The 2023 revision of the ETS directive moved it back from 30 April with effect from 2024, while the verified emissions report stays due by 31 March. UK ETS operators surrender five months earlier, on 30 April, so groups with obligations in both schemes run two separate calendars.
- What is CBAM and when does it start charging?
- The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is the EU's carbon charge on imported goods such as steel, cement, aluminium and fertiliser. It starts charging in 2026, when importers must buy CBAM certificates priced off the EUA market. UK exporters selling into the EU carry that cost even if they have no EU sites.
Registries, voluntary retirement and pricing are covered in the full set of carbon allowance questions answered.
Buying EUAs through Purely Energy
Our allowance desk runs carbon allowances for UK businesses as a fully online journey across both schemes: live pricing on screen, volume set by you, execution at lean cost. Dual-scheme groups are exactly the case the desk is built for, one team covering both registries and both calendars.
If the obligation comes with reporting attached, our SECR and ESOS reporting services sit alongside the desk. We work for you, not the suppliers.
EU obligations? Fund them at today's price
EUAs, UKAs or both: live pricing, online execution and one desk across both registries. Start the order in minutes.