If properly designed, national targets and the EU ETS can complement each other and be an effective contribution to achieving the 90% target by 2040.

National targets will remain a key element of the EU’s climate architecture for the period 2030 to 2050. The ETS is applied uniformly across the EU and ensures convergence towards the long-term target. National targets can reflect solidarity and national circumstances, ensure government action to address non-economic barriers and thereby can avoid excessive ETS prices.

With this paper possible post-2030 climate target architectures are discussed with a special focus on synergies between the EU ETS and the design of national targets. We only touch upon flexibilities between and within national targets but do not address governance questions. Importantly, national targets -especially those covering a broad range of sectors and activities – leave considerable room for Member States on how to achieve them. This provides a high level of flexibility and follows the principle of subsidiarity. In addition, national targets can be formulated in a way that is short and easy to understand.