Republic of Poland v. European Commission [ECJ 2013]

Challenge brought by Poland against Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community. In support of the action, the Republic of Poland raised four pleas. The first alleged an infringement of the TFEU on the ground that the Commission did not take into account the specificity of each Member State in respect of fuel. The second plea concerned an alleged breach of the principle of equal treatment on the ground that the Commission did not take into account the difference in situation between the regions of the European Union. The third plea alleged a breach of the principle of proportionality. The fourth plea alleged that the Commission was not competent to adopt the contested decision. The General Court rejected all four grounds and the action was therefore dismissed. In particular, the General Court held that “the determination by the Commission of the heat and fuel benchmarks by using the reference performance of natural gas may be regarded as objectively justified” (para. 58).