# C_2018436EN.01001002.xml

| 3.12.2018 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 436/10 |
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3.12.2018

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 436/10

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Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 4 October 2018 (Request for a preliminary ruling from the Consiglio di Stato — Italy) — Legatoria Editoriale Giovanni Olivotto (LEGO) SpA v Gestore dei servizi energetici (GSE) SpA, Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali

(Case C-242/17) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Environment - Promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources - Bioliquids used for a thermal energy plant - Directive 2009/28/EC - Article 17 - Sustainability criteria for bioliquids - Article 18 - National sustainability certification systems - Implementing Decision 2011/438/EU - Voluntary sustainability certification systems for biofuels and bioliquids approved by the European Commission - National legislation requiring intermediary operators to submit sustainability certificates - Article 34 TFEU - Free movement of goods))

(2018/C 436/11)

Language of the case: Italian

Referring court

Consiglio di Stato

Parties to the main proceedings

Appellant: Legatoria Editoriale Giovanni Olivotto (LEGO) SpA

Respondents: Gestore dei servizi energetici (GSE) SpA, Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare, Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, Ministero delle Politiche Agricole e Forestali

Operative part of the judgment

| 1. | Article 18(7) of Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC, read in conjunction with Commission Implementing Decision 2011/438/EU of 19 July 2011 on the recognition of the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) system for demonstrating compliance with the sustainability criteria under Directives 2009/28/EC and 2009/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings which imposes requirements on economic operators which, for the certification of the sustainability of bioliquids, are specific, different and more extensive than those imposed by a voluntary sustainability certification system, such as the ISCC system, recognised by that implementing decision, adopted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 18(4) of that directive, in so far as that system was approved only in respect of biofuels and in so far as those conditions concern only bioliquids. |
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1.

Article 18(7) of Directive 2009/28/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources and amending and subsequently repealing Directives 2001/77/EC and 2003/30/EC, read in conjunction with Commission Implementing Decision 2011/438/EU of 19 July 2011 on the recognition of the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) system for demonstrating compliance with the sustainability criteria under Directives 2009/28/EC and 2009/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation such as that at issue in the main proceedings which imposes requirements on economic operators which, for the certification of the sustainability of bioliquids, are specific, different and more extensive than those imposed by a voluntary sustainability certification system, such as the ISCC system, recognised by that implementing decision, adopted by the European Commission in accordance with Article 18(4) of that directive, in so far as that system was approved only in respect of biofuels and in so far as those conditions concern only bioliquids.

| 2. | EU law, in particular Article 34 TFEU and Article 18(1) and (3) of Directive 2009/28, must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which imposes a national sustainability verification system for bioliquids under which all the economic operators involved in the supply chain of the product, even when they are intermediaries which do not take physical possession of the batches of bioliquids, are bound by certain requirements relating to certification, communication and the provision of information imposed by that system. |
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2.

EU law, in particular Article 34 TFEU and Article 18(1) and (3) of Directive 2009/28, must be interpreted as meaning that it does not preclude national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which imposes a national sustainability verification system for bioliquids under which all the economic operators involved in the supply chain of the product, even when they are intermediaries which do not take physical possession of the batches of bioliquids, are bound by certain requirements relating to certification, communication and the provision of information imposed by that system.

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(1)  OJ C 283, 28.8.2017.

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