Renewable energy certificates will start trading at a European level on January 1, when a test phase involving six countries will begin, said Jos Benner, head of the Renewable Energy Certificates System (RECS) secretariat. "The test phase will start on January 1st and will involve six countries, namely Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Greece and Italy," he told Reuters. He said that companies in France and Belgium had expressed an interest in the trading system and were likely to join at a later stage of the testing.