The nEHS means that a CO₂ price has applied for the heating and transport sectors in Germany at national level since 1 January 2021. For every tonne of ⁠CO2⁠ that is emitted during the combustion of fuel, an emission allowance ("nEHS allowance") must be purchased and surrendered in the register for national emissions trading (nEHS register) of the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) at the ⁠UBA⁠. The nEHS will initially have a legally defined fixed price phase until 2025. The fixed price for an nEHS certificate and thus for a tonne of CO2 will start this year at 25 euros, gradually increase to 55 euros by 2025 and then switch to an auction procedure starting in 2026. The number of available nEHS certificates is unlimited during the fixed-price phase.

The nEHS includes all fuels covered by the Energy Duty Tax: petrol, diesel, heating oil, liquid gas, natural gas and, as of 2023, coal. The obligated parties under the nEHS are those companies and organisations which place fuels on the market, for example natural gas suppliers or companies in the mineral oil industry. Direct access for these obligated parties under the nEHS is possible since 9 August 2021 at http://www.nehs-zulassung.com/. Indirect access to the sell-off is offered via several intermediaries that are listed on the nEHS website.

The prerequisite for the acquisition of nEHS certificates via the EEX is the timely opening of an account in the nEHS Registry. An account in the nEHS Registry is therefore already necessary this year in order to acquire nEHS certificates for the current year on EEX. Applications to open an account must be submitted to the German Emissions Trading Authority (DEHSt) at UBA. DEHSt strongly recommends that all Fuel Emissions Trading Act managers submit their application in good time in order to be able to participate in the sales procedure this year.

The DEHSt at UBA is responsible for the enforcement of the nEHS and has commissioned the EEX with the auctioning of nEHS certificates.