Case T-674/24: Action brought on 20 December 2024 – EuroChem Antwerpen v Commission
Date: 2024-12-20
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU emission allowance, abuse of power, chemical salt, fertiliser industry, greenhouse gas, industrial pollution, principle of proportionality, reduction of gas emissions, tradeable emission permit








C_202501541EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/1541


17.3.2025






Action brought on 20 December 2024 – EuroChem Antwerpen v Commission


(Case T-674/24)

(C/2025/1541)
Language of the case: English

Parties


Applicant: EuroChem Antwerpen (Antwerp, Belgium) (represented by: D. Geraets, P. Chopova-Leprêtre and N. Kyriazopoulou, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






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declare the application admissible and well-founded;










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annul Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2620 (1) and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2493 (2) (‘the contested regulations’) to the extent that they exclude carbon dioxide emissions in precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) used in fertilisers from the exemption from the obligation to surrender allowances provided in Article 12(3b) of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council; (3) and










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order the Commission to pay the costs of these proceedings.





Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of the action, the applicant relies on three pleas in law.






1.


First plea in law, alleging that the Commission exceeded the delegated powers conferred to it by Article 12(3b) of Directive 2003/87:






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by adopting a positive list of products deemed to comply with that provision, excluding all other products; and










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in the alternative, by listing only mineral carbonates used in certain construction products in the Annex of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2620.














2.


Second plea in law, alleging that the Commission committed a manifest error of assessment:






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by failing to sufficiently examine and consider all the relevant facts and circumstances relating to precipitated calcium carbonate; and










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by not including precipitated calcium carbonate, for the amount of carbon dioxide that remains permanently chemically bound, in the Annex of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2620.














3.


Third plea in law, alleging that the Commission breached its obligations under the Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making of 2016, its duty of care and the principle of proportionality:






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by not conducting a comprehensive expert consultation;










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by not conducting an impact assessment or proportionality analysis that would enable it to conclude that the contested regulations are disproportionate; and










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by not considering that the substitution of traditional lime production with production of precipitated calcium carbonate leads to an overall reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, thereby failing to incentivise companies to use and invest on more environmental-friendly technologies.










(1)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/2620 of 30 July 2024 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the requirements for considering that greenhouse gases have become permanently chemically bound in a product (OJ L, 2024/2620).

(2)  Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2493 of 23 September 2024 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/2066 as regards updating the monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions pursuant to Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ L, 2024/2493).

(3)  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 (OJ 2003 L 275, p. 32).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/1541/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)