The European carbon market remained largely stable during yesterday’s trading session, maintaining its recent neutral trend. Sentiment, however, turned more positive after market participants reacted to leaked draft proposals concerning the EU ETS benchmark revisions.
After posting a 1.3% weekly loss on Friday, the European carbon market continued its downward move in Monday’s session, with the EUA Dec ’26 contract settling at €73.04, its lowest level since mid-April. This also marks a fourth straight close within the €73–€74 range.
According to WirtschaftsWoche, a German weekly business news magazine, LEAG—one of the country’s largest energy producers—plans to position lignite as a low-cost energy source, arguing that the Middle East conflict has made a return to coal a scenario worth considering.
Monday’s session brought only a marginal reversal in the European carbon market after moderate gains over the previous two trading days. The EUA Dec’26 contract closed at €74.74, down €0.16 from Friday, continuing to oscillate around the €74.50 level for the fourth consecutive session.
Last week, carbon allowances traded within a €2.86 range—the narrowest weekly corridor since the start of the year—as market participants searched for direction amid heightened geopolitical uncertainty and limited clarity surrounding the upcoming EU ETS revision.
The latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report from the ICE platform, released this morning, indicates that investment funds have continued to increase their net long positions (the difference between long and short positions) for the second consecutive week.
With the July review of the EU Emissions Trading System and the Market Stability Reserve approaching, several Member States are putting forward their own visions for how the carbon market should look like, reflecting differing priorities on the pace of decarbonisation.
The upward trend in the European carbon market that began on Thursday extended into Friday, with EUA Dec’25 briefly rising above €78 for the first time since mid-February before settling at €77.46, marking a daily gain of 3.29%.
The latest Commitment of Traders (CoT) report from the ICE platform, released Wednesday morning, indicates that investment funds have continued to increase their net long positions (the difference between long and short positions) for the second consecutive week.
The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS), which provides in-depth research and analytical support to Members of the European Parliament, published a paper on Tuesday outlining Member States’ positions on key issues related to the upcoming review of ETS1 and the Market Stability Reserve (MSR).