Date:
June 5, 2026
The European Commission has published the TNAC (Total Number of Allowances in Circulation) indicator, which reflects the total number of CO₂ emission allowances currently available on the European carbon market. In 2025, the TNAC amounted to approximately 1.023 billion allowances.
Based on this indicator, the Market Stability Reserve (MSR) mechanism is triggered to reduce the surplus of allowances and stabilise the EU ETS market. In practice, this means temporarily withdrawing part of the allowances from auctions in order to maintain the effectiveness of the system and preserve an appropriate carbon price signal for the energy transition.
As a result, 190 million CO₂ emission allowances will be transferred to the MSR between September 2026 and August 2027. The mechanism remains one of the key instruments of the EU’s climate policy, supporting emission reduction targets and the decarbonisation of the economy.
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