European Union
Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH v European Commission
Jurisdiction: European Court of Justice
Principle law(s): EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) (Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC)
Side A: Saint-Gobain Glass Deutschland GmbH (Corporation)
Side B: European Commission (Government)
Core objectives: Saint-Gobain challenged the decision of the European Commission refusing access to the information of the Federal Environment Agency of the Federal Republic of Germany relating to Saint-Gobain’s installations in Germany.
Summary
Saint-Gobain, a company involved in the world glass market, operates installations covered by Directive 2003/87/EC, which established a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the European Community. Saint-Gobain applied to the competent German authorities for the free allocation of emission allowances. The company also submitted a request to the European Commission for access to information regarding some installations in Germany relating to the ‘initial installed capacities’, communicated for each sub-installation, and the annual provisional number of free emission allowances allocated to each of those sub-installations. The European Commission denied Saint-Gobain’s request arguing that Article 4(3) of Regulation No 1049/2001 provides an exception to the access to environmental information when it can undermine the institutions’ decision-making process.Case documents
Related laws and policies
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EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) (Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a scheme for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading within the Community and amending Council Directive 96/61/EC)
This Directive establishes a Community GHG emissions trading scheme from 2005, to enable the Community and the Member States to meet their Kyoto Protocol commitments. Directive 2004/101/EC reinforces the link between the EU's emission allowance trading scheme and the Kyoto Protocol by making the ...