Action brought on 29 November 2013 – Arctic Paper Mochenwangen v Commission
(Case T-634/13)
Language of the case: German
Parties
Applicant: Arctic Paper Mochenwangen GmbH (Wolpertswende, Germany) (represented by: S. Kobes, lawyer)
Defendant: European Commission
Form of order sought
The applicant claims that the General Court should:
annul Article 1(1) of Decision 2013/448/EU of the defendant of 5 September 2013 concerning national implementation measures for the transitional free allocation of greenhouse gas emission allowances in accordance with Article 11(3) of Directive 2003/87/EC 1 of the European Parliament and of the Council (C[2013] 5666, OJ 2013 L 240, p. 27), in so far as it rejects the inscription of the installation listed in Annex I, Point A with the installation identification code DE000000000000563 on the list of installations covered by Directive 2003/87/EC submitted by Germany to the Commission pursuant to Article 11(1) of Directive 2003/87/EC and the corresponding preliminary annual amounts of emission allowances allocated free of charge to these installations;
order the Commission to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
In support of the action, the applicant relies in essence on the following pleas in law:
The contested decision infringes Directive 2003/87/EC and Decision 2011/278/EU 2 in so far as it is contested by the applicant. The decision is also incompatible with the principle of proportionality and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The Decision 2011/278/EU does not preclude an additional preliminary allocation of free allowances as compensation for a case of hardship. In any event, the guarantees of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, particularly the fundamental rights to conduct a business and to property, as well as the principle of proportionality require a specific allocation in cases of hardship as compensation for undue burdens resulting from emissions trading.
Finally, the applicant alleges infringement of the requirements of a fair administrative practice pursuant to Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Prior to the decision, the applicant was not given any opportunity to express an opinion.
________________________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 2011/278/EU: Commission Decision of 27 April 2011 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (notified under document C(2011) 2772) (OJ 2011 L 130, p. 1).