The European Commission may intervene in legal actions brought by Poland against the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers, over climate and energy laws adopted as part of the bloc's target to reduce its net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55pc by 2030.
The commission today said that the climate and energy measures are "fully compliant" with EU treaties and law, and that the legislation was proposed to implement the European Climate Law setting legally-binding emissions reduction targets of 55pc by 2030 compared with 1990 levels, and net-zero emissions by 2050. The commission is not a party in the proceedings but "may request" to intervene after analysing the Polish legal action in detail.
Poland is calling for the annulment of regulations, notably setting out reporting and compliance rules as well as member state GHG reduction targets for 2030, along with setting tighter CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. Poland argues that EU member states and parliament should have taken the decisions by unanimity as "the contested regulation significantly affects a member state's choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply".
For the same reasons, Poland is also eyeing the annulment of the bloc's regulation on land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF), which also makes its forestry sector liable to "serious negative socioeconomic and financial consequences".
The country is also contesting the amendment of the market stability reserve (MSR) regulation, also not adopted under unanimity. Poland argues that the MSR regulation may lead to a "decrease in mining employment", and adopted the regulation on the "basis of an incomplete, out-of-date and incorrectly carried out impact assessment" prepared using data that do not take into account the energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The EU agreed in March that the MSR will continue to absorb 24pc of excess carbon allowances from the EU emissions trading system (ETS) until the end of 2030.
Poland and Hungary in April were the only countries to vote against the revised ETS directive. Warsaw stated then that most of the 2030 climate and energy legislation was based on an "incorrect" legal basis and creates a "dangerous legal precedence".
