Energy and Climate Law

On 22 May the European General Court reportedly dismissed a prominent climate case brought by  10 families from Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Romania, Kenya, Fiji and the Swedish Saami Youth Association Sáminuorra, who claimed that the EU`s  2030 climate goals are not ambitious enough. They claimed that the EU fails to protect their fundamental rights of life, health, occupation and property. The case resembles the Dutch Urgenda case that has been discussed earlier in this blog . The General Court dismissed the case on formal grounds, rather than on the merits. The criterion of `direct and individual concern´ for citizens proved to be the crucial hurdle in the case. Plaintiffs pledged to appeal in front of the highest EU Court, the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Following the further re-installment of sanctions that has been announced by the US administration, Iran decided on 8 May to leave parts of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly referred to as `Iran Nuclear Deal` of 2015, in case the EU would not shield Iran against renewed US sanctions within 60 days . The withdrawal is the last step in a downwards-spiral of renewed confrontation that started 2 years ago, but the roots of which are much older. We shed light on the legal history of the conflict.