Sustainability: EU Court of Justice dismisses all of Poland’s appeals against Europe’s ‘green’ agenda

Brussels – The European Commission can press ahead with its Green Deal and sustainability strategy. The Court of Justice of the EU has dismissed the appeals lodged by the Polish government against “Fit for 55 per cent”, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by at least 55 per cent by 2030 compared with 1990 levels and achieve climate neutrality by 2050. 

Poland challenged virtually everything, lodging seven separate appeals against seven different pieces of legislation: energy saving, the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM), new emissions standards for cars and vans, emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF), binding reduction targets for agriculture, construction and waste, and the allocation to be included in the ETS emissions trading scheme.

Poland considered that the contested measures were primarily fiscal in nature or affected the overall structure of its energy supply. In its judgments, the Court of Justice of the EU clarified that six of the seven contested measures fall within the scope of the Union’s environmental policy. The Energy Efficiency Directive falls within the scope of the Union’s energy policy.