EU court rejects Polandβs bid to overturn 7 major climate laws
Poland failed to overturn seven major European Union climate laws Thursday, with the blocβs top court rejecting challenges to measures including the 2035 target for zero-emission cars and carbon pricing for heating and transport.
The rulings by the Court of Justice of the EU uphold key parts of the EUβs Green Deal and bring to a close a legal campaign launched by Polandβs previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government. Prime Minister Donald Tuskβs pro-EU administration kept the campaign alive by deciding not to withdraw the lawsuits.
Poland argued that the laws would fundamentally reshape its coal-dependent energy system and therefore required unanimous approval by EU governments, effectively giving Poland a veto.
The court rejected that argument, ruling that the measures could be adopted by a qualified majority of member countries. The judges also dismissed challenges to the blocβs carbon border tax, energy efficiency rules and national emissions reduction targets.
Six lawsuits were filed in July and August 2023, while PiS was in power. The seventh was lodged on Dec. 14, a day after Tusk took office with a promise to repair Warsawβs relations with Brussels. His government reviewed the cases but decided not to withdraw them.
The courtβs decisions are final, but Tuskβs Poland is still among the countries pushing to weaken parts of the EUβs climate legislation, including by seeking to delay the new carbon market for heating and transport, known as ETS2.