Republic of Poland v. Commission of the European Communities [Court of 1st Instance 2009]

In 2006, the Republic of Poland notified the Commission of its NAP for the period from 2008 to 2012. In 2007, the Commission held that its NAP was incompatible with the criteria set forth in Directive 2003/87 and decided that the total annual quantities of emission allowances should be reduced to 26.7% less than that proposed. Poland appealed the Commission’s decision. As a preliminary issue, the Court held that each member state is to decide, on the basis of its NAP, on the total quantity of allowances it will allocate for a period in question, and the Commission’s power to review these NAPs is very restricted. In the present case, the Commission’s rejection of Poland’s plan based on doubts as to the reliability of the data used exceeded the commission’s authority and violated the principle of equal treatment. The Commission filed an appeal before the Court of Justice, which was ultimately rejected (case C-504/09 P).