EU Commission proposes holding back 900 million carbon permits BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission on Monday proposed postponing the auction of 900 million carbon emission allowances from 2013-2015 until later in the next phase of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which runs until 2020. The measure is designed to support the market, on which the price of allowances collapsed to a record low of 5.99 euros per ton of carbon in April. They recovered to just above 9 euros on Monday, up nearly 9 percent since the previous close, in anticipation of the Commission's proposal.