Carbon Capture Legal Programme EU Case Studies

The EU Case Studies Project

Background

In June 2009, the European Union adopted its ‘Climate and Energy Package’, which contains a series of measures to drive Member States’ legal and policy strategies to achieve the EU’s emissions reduction targets. Directive 31/2009/EC on the geological storage of carbon dioxide (‘CCS Directive’) was adopted as an element of this Package and represents one of the first CCS-dedicated legal frameworks in the world. The Directive requires all EU Member States to adopt domestic measures to implement its provisions within national law (‘transposition’) by 25 June 2011. The European Commission is responsible for monitoring its correct implementation into Member States’ national law.

The project

The Carbon Capture Legal Programme launched the ‘EU Case Studies Project’ in January 2011. The project analyses the implementation process of the CCS Directive in selected European jurisdictions-the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Norway. Each jurisdiction, for different reasons, provides an example of distinct approaches to the transposition and to CCS in general.

The objective of the Project is to identify some of the more subtle nuances in different legal cultures and to understand the rationale for national decisions in specific aspects of the implementation of the Directive within national legal regimes. In particular, the focus is on those areas where the Directive leaves room for Member States’ discretion or is ambiguous or silent. In conjunction with the more detailed provisions and legal choices, the Project also aims to highlight the national policy and political context within which the legal and regulatory framework for CCS has emerged. The studies are deliberately designed to move beyond formal transposition measures to reveal more of the underlying dynamics and tensions involved in national implementation. Such elements are often crucial in driving domestic legal developments. The way in which EU Directives are implemented often reflect distinct legal and administrative traditions, and the case studies seek to present these in order to provide better insights on the development of CCS regulation.

The result of the project is a series of reports from the six jurisdictions based on key legal and policy questions and on a critical reading of the CCS Directive. The CCLP is coordinating the overall research and has carried out the UK case study. Independent experts were commissioned to carry out research in Germany, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Norway. The reports were published in November 2011.