On Friday 21 November, the European Commission referred Bulgaria, Lithuania, Portugal and Sweden to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to meet their commitments under the Directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants (the NEC Directive).
Under the NEC Directive, each Member State is required to comply with national emission reduction commitments every year between 2020 and 2029, before committing to deeper cuts from 2030 onwards.