Case T-180/25: Action brought on 14 March 2025 – Ineos Manufacturing Deutschland v Commission
Date: 2025-03-14
Institutions: General Court
Subjects: EU emission allowance, greenhouse gas, industrial pollution, pollution control measures, reduction of gas emissions, rights of the defence, use of languages








C_202502688EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/2688


19.5.2025






Action brought on 14 March 2025 – Ineos Manufacturing Deutschland v Commission


(Case T-180/25)

(C/2025/2688)
Language of the case: German

Parties


Applicant: INEOS Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH (Cologne, Germany) (represented by: S. Altenschmidt and V. Wechsler, lawyers)

Defendant: European Commission

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:






—


declare that the decision of the Commission of 30 April 2024 [Ares(2024)3182740], read in conjunction with the communication from the Commission of 21 December 2023, 12:23 (email subject: ‘DE - (e-mail 1/2) Final information on the fifth subparagraph of Article 10a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC’), and the communication from the Commission of 20 December 2024 [Ares(2024)9198780], does not exist as a legal act, in so far as the installation with the name ‘Kracker 4, Geb. T21’ and installation number DE000000000002294, operated by the applicant, is identified as an installation whose greenhouse gas emission levels are higher than the 80th percentile of the emission levels for the relevant product benchmarks relating to the implementation of the fifth subparagraph of Article 10a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC; (1)











—


in the alternative, in the event that the first head of claim is inadmissible, annul the decision of the Commission of 30 April 2024 (Ares(2024)3182740), read in conjunction with the communication from the Commission of 21 December 2023, 12:23 (email subject: ‘DE - (e-mail 1/2) Final information on the fifth subparagraph of Article 10a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC’), and the communication from the Commission of 20 December 2024 [Ares(2024)9198780], in so far as the installation with the name ‘Kracker 4, Geb. T21’ and installation number DE000000000002294, operated by the applicant, is identified as an installation whose greenhouse gas emission levels are higher than the 80th percentile of the emission levels for the relevant product benchmarks relating to the implementation of the fifth subparagraph of Article 10a(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC; and










—


order the Commission to pay the costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

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






1.


First plea in law, alleging that the defendant’s letters, which are the subject of the action, do not exist as legal acts, that the communications from the Commission of 21 December 2023 and of 20 December 2024 are not binding, and that the decision of 30 April 2024 does not contain any provisions governing the present case.










2.


Second plea in law (submitted in the alternative), alleging that the decision of 30 April 2024 is formally unlawful, in so far as it infringes the EU rules on the use of languages, the principle of the right to be heard and the requirement to take full account of the facts. In addition, the applicant alleges failure to state reasons.










3.


Third plea in law, alleging that the decision is also materially unlawful. The applicant alleges that there is no basis for authorising the defendant to act. Furthermore, despite the clear ‘and’ conjunction in the relevant Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331, (2) the decision is based on the average level for 2016 and 2017 and does not take into account the heat actually exported by the installation, when determining the greenhouse gas emission levels. The applicant claims that the decision is also non-binding due to the lack of a formal legal act, and that the reference level contained therein may also be factually incorrect.






(1)  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).

(2)  Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/331 of 19 December 2018 determining transitional Union-wide rules for the harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (OJ 2019 L 59, p. 8).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/2688/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)