Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2018:19
Date: 2018-01-18
Language of the case: German
Court formation: Sixth Chamber
Subject matter: Environment;Pollution
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Germany

Summary — Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber), 18 January 2018 Environment — Atmospheric pollution — Directive 2003/87 — Scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading — Transitional regime for free allocation of quotas — Concept of ‘process emissions sub-installation’ — National legislation excluding from the concept emissions stemming from the combustion of incompletely oxidised carbon in a liquid state — Lawfulness (European Parliament and Council Directive 2003/87, Art. 10a; Commission Decision 2011/278, Art. 3(h)) Article 3(h) of Commission Decision 2011/278/EU of 27 April 2011 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation, such as that at issue in the main proceedings, which excludes from the concept of ‘process emissions sub-installation’, within the meaning of that provision, greenhouse gas emissions stemming from the combustion of incompletely oxidised carbon in a liquid state. As follows from the written observations submitted to the Court, waste gases stemming from industrial production cannot be stored, with the result that, if they are not burned, they leak freely into the atmosphere and, thus, necessarily emit into the atmosphere the greenhouse gases that they contain. It is common ground that the combustion of those waste gases results, generally, in a reduction of such greenhouse gases. By contrast, it is not disputed that liquid waste does not, for its part, generate greenhouse gases, or, if so, then only in negligible quantities. In those circumstances, while it is fully in compliance with the objectives pursued by Directive 2003/87 and Decision 2011/278 to take into account greenhouse gases generated by the combustion of waste gases containing incompletely oxidised carbon, since those emissions cannot be avoided and the combustion of those waste gases generally results in their reduction, it would, by contrast, go against those objectives to take into account greenhouse gases generated by the combustion of liquid waste containing incompletely oxidised carbon because this would result in an increase of those emissions, even though they are avoidable. (see paras 46, 47, 49, 51 and operative part)