The European Commission expects the first emissions registries to reopen by the middle of the week beginning 31 January, it said in a statement shortly after the market closed for trade on Friday (28th January).
No specific country registries were revealed, however.
An announcement had been eagerly anticipated throughout the day, as the Commission had earlier said the first reports requesting reopening had been received.
When the registries do eventually open for business, spot trading in EU allowances (EUAs) and certified emission reductions (CERs) will tentatively be able to begin again - for some - for the first time in two weeks.
Although Brussels on Friday gave the impression it was on the brink of allowing the first registries to reopen, there were still calls from the market that the Commission was not doing enough in the wake of the theft of 2m allowances.

IETA calls for deadline
Lobby group International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) said a firm deadline had to be put forward by Brussels as to when all registries would be operational again. IETA suggested emissions registries hosting the largest market places ought to resume operation in the first week of February, while a final deadline should be set for mid-April - but just for the laggards.
When the Commission shut all of the EU`s registries, it said it would only approve the phased reopening when certain security criteria were met. Member states agreed what these criteria were, but the details remain confidential.
IETA wants these security details to be made public, so that the market can be reassured that whatever is being put in place by registries is not just a quick fix measure, conducted at minimum cost.
The lobby is proposing that all registries impose two-level authorisation, with either electronic user identification or transaction details sent by mobile phone text message and email. By making both mandatory, potential hackers would need to break through software and hardware.

Closing the security gas
To close the security gap further, the Commission should also make available an official central, public location where ID numbers of stolen EUAs can be posted, IETA said. The issue regarding liability for purchase of stolen allowances also needs to be resolved.
It is not the first time that calls have been made for a public notice board for stolen allowances. Shortly after the Commission stopped all spot trading, Paris-based BlueNext put forward a similar idea (see EDCM 20 January 2011).
Clarifying the legal quagmire of stolen allowances is not easy, however, as each EU member state has different laws on holding and transferring further (even unwittingly) stolen goods. Nevertheless, some outlines should be standardised so as to minimise risk on behalf of the trading community.

Closure update
The Czech Registry OTE - which had 1.3m EUAs stolen from five accounts - said late on Thursday that it now does not expect to reopen for at least six weeks. It said it was cooperating with both the police and other European registries to trace the allowances and resolve the situation as quickly as possible.
Poland`s registry Kashue said on Friday it expected to be closed for a further two weeks.
Other registries said they still did not know when they would be able to reopen.