Judgment of the Court (Fifth Chamber) of 20 January 2022 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin – Germany) – ET acting as insolvency administrator of Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG v Bundesrepublik Deutschland
(Case C-165/20) 1
(Reference for a preliminary ruling – Scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading – Directive 2003/87/EC – Article 3e – Inclusion of aviation activities – Directive 2008/101/EC – Allocation and issue of allowances free of charge to aircraft operators – Cessation, by such an operator, of its activities due to insolvency – Decision of the competent national authority refusing to issue allowances to the insolvency administrator of the company in liquidation)
Language of the case: German
Referring court
Verwaltungsgericht Berlin
Parties to the main proceedings
Applicant: ET acting as insolvency administrator of Air Berlin PLC & Co. Luftverkehrs KG
Defendant: Bundesrepublik Deutschland
Operative part of the judgment
Article 3e of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 October 2003 establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC, as amended by Regulation (EU) 2017/2392 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2017, must be interpreted as meaning that the number of greenhouse gas emission allowances allocated free of charge to an aircraft operator must, in the event of cessation of that operator’s aviation activities during the period of greenhouse gas emission allowance trading in question, be reduced in proportion to the part of that period during which those activities are no longer carried out.
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1 OJ C 255, 3.8.2020.