No turbulence in carbon market following ECJ ruling

The eight countries that sued the European Commission over its decision to tighten their emission caps have not experienced a dramatic fluctuation in the number of carbon allowances, according to industry analyst Point Carbon. The Court of First Instance last month ruled that the Commission had exceeded its powers when formulating National Allocation Plans (NAPs) with Estonia and Poland (see September 2009 Eurobrief). The Court subsequently annulled Commission decisions limiting the number of EU allowances the two countries receive between 2008 and 2012.

Point Carbon predicts that the number of carbon allowances in the eight countries might be revised slightly upwards following negotiations between the Commission and the Member States. The cases of the six other Eastern European Member States - Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and the Czech Republic – have not yet reached their conclusion.

An ECJ press release on the judgement can be found here:

http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2009-09/cp090076en.pdf