The EU Commission will re-open carbon offset spot trading step-by-step as each registry proves its security, EU officials said, after a possibly concerted theft of carbon permits worth up to 30 million euros led to a week-long freeze last Wednesday. The theft, focusing on markets in the Czech Republic and Austria, led to an investigation that declared 14 of the EU's 27 registries "not up to scratch," according to the European Commission's climate action spokeswoman Maria Kokkonen. The reopening of markets has been further delayed by the Czech Republic, which declared that its carbon registry would remain closed indefinitely after similar action by the Austrian registry. The theft, according to Jos Delbeke, head of the Commission's climate action division, is the largest amount of permits ever taken without authorization, numbering up to two million. Meanwhile, in response to criticism that offsets from large industrial projects, particularly those related to certain hydrofluorocarbons and nitrous oxide, award excessive profits while crowding out other projects, the Commission voted to ban the most common type of offsets starting in May 2013. For the story on the reopening of markets, see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70J2GU20110120?pageNumber=1. For a timeline on scandals in the EU carbon market, see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70J4M120110120. For the ban on offsets, see http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70K37L20110121.