Intro

Within the EU climate governance framework, national systems serve as the backbone for planning, monitoring, and reporting processes. These national systems feed into European Union’s (EU’s) climate governance framework, at the core of which are the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and long-term strategies (LTS). These strategic and planning documents ensure that Member States align their national policies with the overarching EU goals and international commitments. EU commitment to climate action is set out in the 2021 European Climate Law, and further operationalised through other climate legislation. National systems provide data for NECPs, LTSs, and also helps improve the consistency and comparability of data across Member States. 

A national system for policies and measures and projections represents the institutional, legal and procedural arrangements established for reporting on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions policies and measures and GHG projections. A complete and transparent national system is essential to deliver good-quality information on GHG projections to integrate policy effects and understand GHG emission trends. It seeks to ensure the timeliness, transparency, accuracy, consistency, comparability and completeness of the information on policies and measures and projections. 

About national systems for policies and measures and projections

European Member States and three non-EU countries (Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland) report information on their national systems for policies and measures and projections in line with the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action Regulation. The reporting format and structure was laid out in the Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1208. The EEA compiles and disseminates the reported information. 

In 2021, countries were required to provide a full description of the relevant institutional, legal, and procedural arrangements for reporting on policies and measures and projections. For subsequent reporting years, reporting should take place only if there are modifications to the national system. 

The reported information includes main elements of the national system for policies and measures and projections: 

A stable, robust, and well-designed national system with clear arrangements is critical for streamlined national coordination and reduction of redundancies. It can also enhance the development of national GHG projections and serve as a tool for evidence-based policy-making focused on reducing GHG emissions. 

What the data is telling us

• All EU member States have well-established national systems for reporting on GHG policies and measures and projections.
• There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to developing a national system, but good practices can be identified.
• A stable national system with clear arrangements is critical for developing and regularly updating national GHG projections and evaluating climate policy instruments. 

The table below provides a more detailed overview of the governance arrangements of national systems for all reporting countries.  

Note: assessment made based on data available in 2024. For a more detailed explanation please see ETC-CM report 2024/08: Strengthening National Governance Systems.