Poland, which filed the cases in 2023, had contested rules on carbon dioxide cuts, emissions trading, energy efficiency and greenhouse gas absorption targets.
It argued that some of the measures were fiscal in nature or affected the overall structure of its energy supply. They should therefore have been adopted under an EU treaty provision requiring unanimity, it said.
The court disagreed. Six of the acts belong to EU environmental policy, it said, and are chiefly aimed at tackling climate change and meeting commitments under the 2015 Paris agreement. The seventh, on energy efficiency, falls under energy policy.
None of the seven acts “has as its main objective to significantly affect a member state’s choice between different energy sources and the general structure of its energy supply”, the court said.
It added that the legal basis of an EU act depends on its aim and content, not on its possible economic or social effects.
The court also dismissed Poland’s claim that the rules breached the principle of energy solidarity, saying that principle applies to energy legislation and cannot be used against environmental measures.
Warsaw’s warnings of higher energy prices and job losses did not sway the judges either. EU lawmakers had taken member states’ interests into account, the court said, “in particular because it provided for specific compensatory measures, especially under the Social Climate Fund”.
The “Fit for 55” package aims to cut EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 from 1990 levels and to reach climate neutrality by 2050.
(jh)
Source: PAP