Romania to contest EU quota cut
BUCHAREST (Reuters) – Romania has asked for an annulment of a 2007 European Commission decision to cut its carbon emission quota, a government official said. The European Commission decided in October to cut the new EU member’s emission quota for 2008-2018 by 20.7 percent. The centrist minority government filed the annulment request with the European Court of Justice on December 21, said Adrian Ciocanea, head of the cabinet’s European Affairs Department. «The government is now waiting for the court’s stance… during this time, the Commission’s decision remains valid,» Ciocanea was quoted as saying in the online edition of daily Cotidianul. The European Commission is under pressure to take a hard line in the second phase of its emissions trading scheme after lax targets in the first phase, from 2005-2007, saw heavy industry receive too many permits, causing a market surplus and subsequent price collapse.
