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INEOS Köln GmbH v Republic of Germany - opinion

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INEOS Köln GmbH v Republic of Germany - judgment

INEOS Köln GmbH v Republic of Germany - Other

Filing Year For Action

INEOS operates an installation that produces chemical products and that has been subject to compulsory emissions trading since 2018 through the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS).

On 23 January 2012, INEOS applied to the German Emissions Trading Authority, within the prescribed time limit, for free allocation of emission allowances for their installation for the period 2013-2020. Later, INEOS challenged the German Authority’s decision about how many free emissions allocations to award the company, claiming that it had not considered data relating to direct emissions for 2006 and 2007, which it was required to do. The German Authority claimed it was not required to consider that data, because it had been submitted after the deadline for the initial application. 

On 29 September 2015, INEOS brought an action against that decision before the Berlin Administrative Court. The company argued that it had inadvertently omitted to submit certain data, wrongly assuming that the Authority already had that data. Ineos added that the Authority was under an obligation to ask it to supplement or correct the data provided for the purposes of the allocation application. The Administrative Court of Berlin referred to the ECJ a question regarding the interpretation of Article 10(a) of Directive 2003/87/CE and the provisions of Decision 2011/278: must it be interpreted as precluding national legislation which lays down, for the submission of an application for the free allocation of emission allowances for the period 2013-2020, a deadline by which an applicant must correct or complete its application?

The ECJ ruled that the two directives must not be interpreted as precluding such a national provision and that Germany could impose such a deadline.


INEOS Köln GmbH v Republic of Germany

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Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

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Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

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The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

A subsidy is a direct or indirect payment to individuals or businesses, typically provided as a government cash payment or a specific tax reduction.

A target to reduce the prevalence of a greenhouse gas over a specific time frame

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

A company that is owned wholly or partially by the state, typically operating in key sectors.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

The processes through which enterprises can identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their actual and potential adverse impacts. Due diligence is the idea that reasonable precautions should be taken to avoid causing harm to people, the environment, or society. It also involves identifying and mitigating risks before they occur.

This sector involves activities to move goods and people, alongside the storage of products.

INEOS Köln GmbH v Republic of Germany - opinion

Target

Policy instrument

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance