E.ON Kraftwerke GmbH v Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
Date: 2016-09-08
23


It should be recalled here that Directive 2003/87 aims to reduce, by 2020, the overall greenhouse gas emissions of the European Union by at least 20% in comparison with 1990 levels, in an economically efficient manner. In order to attain that objective, the EU legislature devised two mechanisms. The first, put in place by Article 9 of Directive 2003/87, consists in the reduction in the number of allowances available by the application of a linear factor of 1.74% compared to the average annual total quantity of allowances issued by Member States in accordance with the Commission’s decisions on their national allocation plans for the period from 2008 to 2012. The second mechanism is the auctioning of allowances, which also aims to facilitate the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in an economically efficient manner (judgment of 28 April 2016, Borealis Polyolefine and Others, C‑191/14, C‑192/14, C‑295/14, C‑389/14 and C‑391/14 to C‑393/14, EU:C:2016:311, paragraph 81).
24


As regards the installations which, in certain sectors of activity, receive greenhouse gas emission allowances free of charge in accordance with Article 10a(11) of Directive 2003/87, the quantity of those allowances allocated is to decrease gradually from 2013, with a view to reaching the abolition of free allowances in 2027 (judgment of 28 April 2016, Borealis Polyolefine and Others, C‑191/14, C‑192/14, C‑295/14, C‑389/14 and C‑391/14 to C‑393/14, EU:C:2016:311, paragraph 82).
25


In this context, provision is made, in accordance with Article 7 of Decision 2011/278, that for each incumbent installation eligible for the free allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances, the Member States are, for all years of the period from 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008, or 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010 where applicable, during which the installation has been operating, to collect from the operator all relevant information and data regarding each of the parameters listed in Annex IV to that decision which enables the amount of the allocation to be determined.
26


In accordance with Article 10 of Decision 2011/278, the Member States, on the basis of the information collected pursuant to Article 7, are to calculate for each year the number of emission allowances allocated free of charge from 2013 onwards to each incumbent installation on their territory.
27


As stated in recital 15 of Decision 2011/278, the Member States should ensure that data collected from the operators and used for allocation purposes is complete and consistent and presents the highest achievable accuracy.
34


In the system of allocation of emission allowances, the Member States, as noted in paragraph 26 above, are to calculate for each year, on the basis of the information collected pursuant to Article 7 of Decision 2011/278, the number of emission allowances allocated free of charge to each incumbent installation on their territory. It is therefore for the competent authorities of the Member States alone to assess, on the basis of the information collected from the operators, whether that information is such as to have an impact on the determination of the number of allowances allocated.
37


In that context, as recalled in paragraph 27 above, the Member States must ensure that the data collected from the operators and used for allocation purposes is complete and consistent and presents the highest achievable accuracy. It is therefore for the Member States to determine themselves what relevant information for the competent authorities must be collected from the operators.