European Papers (Feb 2020)
Cities' Legal Actions in the EU: Towards a Stronger Urban Power?
Abstract
(Series Information) European Papers - A Journal on Law and Integration, 2019 4(3), 861-870 | European Forum Insight of 21 February 2020 | (Table of Contents) I. Facts and history of the procedure: a step forward in the so-called dieselgate saga. - II. The legal framework: balancing different European policies. - III. Clarifying the sector framed by Directive 2007/46: uncertainty hidden behind technicalities. - IV. The General Court's reasoning in the 2018 judgment. - IV.1. The admissibility of the actions. - IV.2. The amendment of the not-to-exceed emission limits and the statistical factor cf pollutant: the competence of the Commission. - V. Some conclusions: towards a stronger urban power in Europe. | (Abstract) The case discussed is an example of how cities can have an independent role in EU governance. In 2016, the cities of Madrid, Brussels and Paris brought actions before the General Court (Art. 263 TFEU), asking for the annulment of Regulation 646/2016, as regards emissions from Euro 6 vehicles. De facto, the Commission changed the not-to-exceed emission limits during the new real driving emission tests, through the statistical factor CF pollutant. Cities submitted that the Commission adopted less demanding values than those set by the applicable Euro 6 standard and that it did not have the power to do so. The Commission challenged the admissibility of the cities' actions. Then, it reaffirmed its competence in adopting the regulation. With regard to the admissibility of the action, the Court concluded, in 2018, that the conditions of Art. 263 TFEU are met in this case. Thus, the three cities are legal persons directly affected by the Commission regulation. In the end, the Court affirmed that the Commission did not have the competence to specify new different limits for the emissions and that, in doing so, it erred in supporting the use of the selected correction factor. For these reasons, the Court concluded for a partial annulment of the Regulation. The Commission, Germany and Hungary have appealed to the Court of Justice.
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