Onder 4.80. Rechtbank Den Haag 24 juni 2015

Finally, the State has put forward that higher emission reductions in the ETS sector are not allowed. In support of this argument, the State has referred to the emission ceiling for the ETS sector as adopted by the EU, which is intended to have led to an EU-wide emission reduction of 21% by 2020, compared to 2005. In view of this ceiling and of the principles of EU law laid down in the TFEU, the State argues that it is not possible to impose a stricter (or less strict) reduction target of over 21% on ETS businesses established in the Netherlands. In so far as the State hereby argues that in allocating the emission allowances (emission allocation) among the ETS businesses the State should act in accordance with EU legislation and observe the ceiling stated therein, then this is correct. However, the court does not follow the State in this argument in so far as this means that a Member State is not allowed to reduce more than the amount adopted in EU policy. As has been stated previously, the State has determined a higher reduction target for the period up to 2010, namely 30%. Urgenda was right in arguing that regardless of the ceiling Member States have the option to influence (directly or indirectly) the greenhouse gas emissions of national ETS businesses by taking own, national measures. In its argument, Urgenda has named several of such measures taken in other Member States, such as increasing the share of sustainable energy in the national electricity network in Denmark and the introduction of the carbon price floor taks in the United Kingdom, with which the price of CO2 emission has been increased. In response to Urgenda’s argument, the State acknowledged in a more general sense that it is legally and practically possible to develop a national ETS sector policy that is more far-reaching than the EU’s policy. It is of the opinion of the court that the European legislation discussed here does not prevent the State from pursuing a higher reduction for 2020.

$ curl -s https://bron.page/api/v1/blobs/5d7ca323e4df9e1a4dce2ddb9ffaaa9620ca24f29dd715fb6874941457e35275 | shasum -a 256