The CJEU's Recent Judgment Closes the EU Judicial Chapter in the EU ETS Dispute
By Vanessa Edwards (London), Philip Torbøl (Brussels), Christopher Tung (Hong Kong), and Sara Aparicio Hill (Brussels)
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has delivered its Judgment on a Preliminary Ruling on the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (EU’s ETS) extension to aviation. The Judgment substantially follows the Advocate General’s Opinion of 6 October 2011.
Background to the Dispute
The EU’s ETS Directive 2008/101 ("the Directive") requires all greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft landing or taking off within the EU to be included within the ETS, which aims to cut greenhouse emissions by creating a market for emission allowances. Accordingly, from that date all airlines – including those of non-EU countries – will have to acquire and surrender emission allowances for their flights which depart from and arrive at European airports.
