The Market Stability Reserve (MSR), an instrument established to control the supply of allowances on the EU ETS market, was approved by the EU environment ministers in the Council on 18 September. Few Member States voiced objections. Only Poland, Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania opposed the final text as they believe that making MSR operational prior to 2021 will undermine the predictability of the carbon market for industry.

Finland released a statement highlighting the “need to guarantee global competitiveness of European energy-intensive industries” and asking to look into the “impact of the MSR on growth, jobs, the [EU]’s industrial competitiveness and on the risk of carbon leakage”. According to analysts, and as a consequence of early operation of MSR, the carbon price is forecasted to double between now and end 2019.