Malta mulls court case against Commission

Malta may mount a legal challenge to the European Commission over the allocation of carbon dioxide emission limits if it is not happy with the EU executive's final decision.

If the island does file a case before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), it would be the first time it has pursued legal action against the Commission.

Following submissions by Malta, the Commission last November decided to reject Malta's claim for an annual allocation of 2.9 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, covering 2008-2012, and cut 30 per cent from the original demand.

Malta objected, arguing this would limit the country's economic expansion, government sources have told The Times.

"We are seriously considering going to court. In fact we have already joined a court action over the same issue initiated by Slovakia. Some of Slovakia's arguments are similar to Malta's. The Attorney General has been instructed to join the case and present formally Malta's submissions."

Malta is now awaiting the commission's decision before possibly going ahead with a court case.

As part of its obligations under the EU emissions trading scheme last year, Malta presented its National Allocation Plan (NAP) to Brussels requesting an allocation of 2.96 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually until 2012. Brussels turned down the request and insisted that the emissions have to be capped at 2.1 million tonnes a year.

Only Enemalta's power generating plants in Delimara and Marsa fall under the remit of the EU emissions trading scheme.

According to unpublished figures, in 2005, the two power stations generated 1.98 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, which is about seven tonnes per capita.

The government's claim for a bigger allocation of emissions was based on the assumption of an increase in energy demand over the coming years due to higher economic activity.

The government's claim also included a "reserve allocation" in case a new operator enters the market.

On its part, the Commission said certain aspects of the Maltese NAP were not compatible with its directive.

As a result, it decided to reduce Malta's authorised allocation by 812,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions to a maximum of 2.1 million tonnes a year.

The sources said the government was not saying that it did not intend to lower carbon dioxide emissions but this could not happen at the expense of the economy.

"We do not agree with the model used by the commission to cut our requested figures. This should not have been a-one-size-fits-all exercise. What is applicable to Germany does not necessarily apply to Malta."

Malta and Slovakia are not the only EU member states objecting to the cuts. Latvia, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Estonia have all initiated court cases against the Commission at the ECJ.