In re Foraneto, S.L, Judgment No. 5347/2008 of Oct. 6, 2008

Foraneto, S.L. brought suit against the Council of Ministers of Spain challenging their decision to approve the individual assignment of emissions credits to its energy plant in Tarragona at a total of 140,250 tons of CO2 for 2005-2007 period, or 46.750 tons per year, under the provisions of Royal Decree 5/2004 of August 27th. Foraneto sought partial annulment of the Council’s decision in order to increase its credit allowance by a total of 35,318 tons, or 11,772 additional tons per year (the amount originally requested); in the alternative, they sought compensation at the average market rate. The court found in Foraneto’s favor, holding that the assignment of credits was made by applying formalistic factors that did not take into account the real volume of production at the Tarragona facility. Based on an expert’s testimony, the court changed the assignment to a total of 174,508 tons for the 2005-2007 period, or 58.136 tons per year.