Poland goes to Court of Justice over ETS

Poland's government decided in January 2016 to mount a legal offensive against the European Commission's reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The ETS reform was put forward to make it more in line with the EU's climate goals for the post-2020 period. In this context, one of the tools used to raise prices of the emission allowances is the Market Stability Reserve (MSR). In its initial proposal, the European Commission wanted the reserve to become operative in 2021. Yet, in the final text of the MSR reform adopted in October 2015 by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, the date had been changed to 1 January 2019.

This change was the reason why the Polish government decided to file a complaint against the European Union with the European Court of Justice. Poland's position argues that introduction of the new ETS rules before the end of the current trading period was set to heavily distort the market. Thus, the government argues, it would impact decisions and investments made with the old system in mind.

• Primary Source

ESO: Background information: Questions and answers on the proposal to revise the EU emissions trading system (EU ETS) http://www.europeansources.info/record/memo-questions-and-answers-on-the-proposal-to-revise-the-eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/

ESO: Background information: Post-2020 Reform Of The EU Emissions Trading System http://www.europeansources.info/record/post-2020-reform-of-the-eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-legislation-in-progress/

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