The Platform for a New Energy Model and APPA want to take the Spanish Government before the Court of Justice of the European Union

The Platform for a New Energy Model (Px1NME) and the Association of Renewable Energy Producers (APPA) want to take Spain before the Court of Justice of the European Union for the mistreatment of renewables, infringement of EU Law and breach of the principle of legal certainty for the majority of the investors in renewable energies in Spain.

APPA and Px1NME will be in Brussels from the 8-9th of April 2013 for a series of meetings with notable members of the European Commission and Parliament in order to denounce the energy model that is being promoted in Spain, the relentless pursuit of renewable energies and the transposition of the energy saving and efficiency directives of the EU. With these measures, they are hoping to push the competent institutions towards rectifying Spanish politics regarding renewables, and take measures to ensure respect for EU Law in Spain.

The Platform for a New Energy Model held the first meetings with different institutions and European organizations in Brussels last December and filed a complaint before the European Commission. This complaint consists of five documents, three of which have already been forwarded to the legal service of the EC.

In these complaints, prepared by Holtrop S.L.P. (law firm belonging to the Platform and collaborating on a voluntary basis), the Commission was asked to pursue the procedure established in art. 258 TFEU (Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), to bring Spain before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), because it is considered that its legislation in the energy sector entails a clear breach of EU law, mainly several provisions within the RES Directive (2009/28/EC), Directive 2009/72/CE, the TFEU, as well as the principle of legitimate expectations of the majority of RES investors in Spain.

At the same time a petition will be presented to the Committee on Petitions of the European parliament which focuses on the breach of Directive 2009/28/CE by the Spanish government. These two ways are now the only possibility Spanish investors have in order to bring their claims before the European Court of Justice as it is not possible for individuals, utilities or sector organizations to access directly to this court.

Since the meetings held in December the Spanish Government has approved two further cutbacks for RES electricity support schemes. The first was introduced by Law 15/2012 as a new tax on the gross revenues of the sale of electricity with a flat rate of 7% which applies to every installation of electricity generation independently from the date of its activation. Nevertheless it results in a discrimination against RES as the utilities operating with conventional energy sources can translate this cost to the final consumer, while RES producers do not have this possibility.

The second severe and again retroactive measure, established through Royal Decree-Law 2/2013 retroactively changed the yearly update of feed-in tariffs abandoning the Consumer Price Index for a new methodology resulting in a reduction in remuneration over time. 

During the meetings the Platform for a New Energy Model (as a collective of civil society comprised of more than 80 organizations including social collectives, environmental organizations, syndicates, business organizations and political parties) and APPA (as the umbrella of renewable energies associations in Spain) will discuss these last measures and the possible alternatives Spain could have to reduce its tariff deficit and permit the transition towards a new energy model. All this, without endangering, like it is currently doing, the RES sector which should be one of the most important engines for the economic recovery of Spain.

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For more information:

Piet Holtrop: info@holtropslp.com +34 93 519 33 93 

Jaume Margarit (APPA):

Cote Romero (Plataforma por un Nuevo Modelo Energético)