--- description: "Under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the accredited legal person, or otherwise authorised natural person, that checks yearly emissions reports and free allocation data. A yearly emissions report must be verified as satisfactory by 31 March." title: "Verifier – EU ETS: meaning and legal source" image: "https://greenfineprint.com/card/glossary/eu-ets-verifier.png?v=1k1ze1c" url: "https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier" --- Glossary # Verifier – EU ETS Under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the accredited legal person, or otherwise authorised natural person, that checks yearly emissions reports and free allocation data. A yearly emissions report must be verified as satisfactory by 31 March. Legal source [Accreditation and Verification Regulation, Article 3(3) ↗](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02018R2067-20250622#art%5F3) Who it applies to Verification companies accredited under the Accreditation and Verification Regulation. Operators of installations and aircraft operators must have each yearly emissions report verified, and installations applying for or receiving free allocation also have their baseline data and activity level reports verified. For ships, the maritime monitoring rules define a verifier of their own. Example An installation reports 12,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂e) for 2026. If the report hasn't been verified as satisfactory by 31 March 2027, the operator can't make further transfers of allowances until it is. By 30 September 2027, it must surrender 12,000 allowances. Also known as EU ETS verification body, accredited verifier (EU ETS), ETS verifier The Accreditation and Verification Regulation (Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2067) defines a verifier as a legal person carrying out verification activities under that Regulation and accredited by a national accreditation body, or a natural person otherwise authorised, at the time a verification report is issued. Verifiers check operators' and aircraft operators' yearly emission reports, and the data used to update benchmarks and determine [free allocation](https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/free-allocation): the baseline data report, the new entrant data report and the annual activity level report. The ETS Directive requires the yearly reports to be verified against the criteria it sets, and the competent authority to be informed. Ships follow the maritime monitoring rules, which define a verifier as a legal entity accredited by a national accreditation body under those rules. Under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), verifiers need a CBAM accreditation: an EU ETS accreditation is taken into account and can be extended to the matching CBAM activity groups, but doesn't replace it. See [Verifier – CBAM](https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/cbam-verifier). Our [explainer on the yearly compliance cycle](https://greenfineprint.com/articles/eu-ets-compliance-cycle) takes each step, from the [monitoring plan](https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/monitoring-plan) to the [surrender of allowances](https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/surrender-of-allowances). ## Regulations DIRECTIVE 2003/87/EC In force Change pending ### [EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS)](https://greenfineprint.com/regulations/eu-ets) Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1862 set the cross-sectoral correction factor for free allocation at 100% for each year from 2026 to 2030 ## Used in DIRECTIVE 2003/87/EC In force Change pending ### [EU ETS compliance deadlines: monitor, verify and surrender allowances each year](https://greenfineprint.com/articles/eu-ets-compliance-cycle) EU ETS operators must report verified emissions by 31 March and surrender allowances by 30 September. Each step, who acts, and what a shortfall costs. 10 min read ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/#website","name":"Green Fine Print","url":"https://greenfineprint.com/","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/#publisher"}},{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/#publisher","name":"Green Fine Print","url":"https://greenfineprint.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://greenfineprint.com/card/logo.png","width":512,"height":512}},{"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier#breadcrumb"},"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier","url":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier","name":"Verifier – EU ETS: meaning and legal source","description":"Under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the accredited legal person, or otherwise authorised natural person, that checks yearly emissions reports and free allocation data. A yearly emissions report must be verified as satisfactory by 31 March.","mainEntity":{"@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier#term"},"isPartOf":{"@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/#website"},"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"DefinedTerm","@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier#term","name":"Verifier – EU ETS","description":"Under the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), the accredited legal person, or otherwise authorised natural person, that checks yearly emissions reports and free allocation data. A yearly emissions report must be verified as satisfactory by 31 March.","alternateName":["EU ETS verification body","accredited verifier (EU ETS)","ETS verifier"],"url":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier","inDefinedTermSet":{"@type":"DefinedTermSet","@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary#set","name":"Green Fine Print glossary","url":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary"}},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://greenfineprint.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Glossary","item":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Verifier – EU ETS","item":"https://greenfineprint.com/glossary/eu-ets-verifier"}]}]} ```