The Court of Justice of the European Union on Wednesday, 13 March, rejected Poland's request to annul the NEC directive (2016/2284) introducing national emission ceilings for certain pollutants.
The pollutants covered are sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), ammonia (NH3) and fine particulates less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (see EUROPE 11674/2).
Supported by Hungary and Romania during the procedure, Poland considered that the European legislator had violated the obligation to carry out an impact assessment, in particular on the consequences of the envisaged measures on the economies of the Member States. The costs of implementing the national emission ceilings would not have been taken into account. According to Poland, the negotiations on national emission reduction commitments would have been discriminatory and opaque, and Warsaw would have been deprived of the possibility to verify the assumptions underlying these commitments.
The Court did not accept any of the arguments put forward by the complainant.
See the judgment in French: http://bit.ly/2UBp6qe. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)