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Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH v European Commission - judgment

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Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH v European Commission - complaint

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Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH v European Commission - opinion

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Saint-Gobain, a company involved in the world glass market, operates installations covered by Directive 2003/87/EC, which established a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the European Community. Saint-Gobain applied to the competent German authorities for the free allocation of emission allowances. The company also submitted a request to the European Commission for access to information regarding some installations in Germany relating to the ‘initial installed capacities’, communicated for each sub-installation, and the annual provisional number of free emission allowances allocated to each of those sub-installations. The European Commission denied Saint-Gobain’s request arguing that Article 4(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001 provides an exception to the access to environmental information when it can undermine the institutions’ decision-making process.

On 31 October 2012, Saint-Gobain brought an action against the European Commission decision before the General Court of Justice (EGC), which dismissed the action on 11 December 2014. Saint-Gobain lodged an appeal before the Court of Justice (ECJ) on 11 February 2015.

The ECJ ruled that the exception provided by Article 4(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001 shall be interpreted in a restrictive way, taking into account the public interest served by disclosure and whether the information requested relates to emissions into the environment. Yet, the fact that the administrative procedure at issue (regarding the free allocation of emission allowances) had not yet been closed on the date of adoption of the contested decision does not in itself establish that disclosure of the documents requested would seriously undermine the Commission’s decision-making procedure. The ECJ has therefore annulled the Commission’s decision refusing the full access to the documents requested by Saint-Gobain.


Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH v European Commission

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

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.

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Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

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.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

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

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.

Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH v European Commission - judgment

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