circular economy
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F-gas, trade compliance, AEO and environnement protection
The Judgment of the General Court (First Chamber, Extended Composition) issued on 22 March 2023 for the joined cases T‑825/19 and T‑826/19 established that “…under Article 16(3) of Regulation No 517/2014, any undertaking, understood as a natural or legal person taken individually, which lawfully placed HFCs on the market from 1 January 2015 and made the declaration provided for in that regulation is entitled to a reference value upon the triennial recalculation of the reference values. However, by providing that several undertakings having the same beneficial owner are, under certain conditions, to be considered as one single undertaking for the purposes of Regulation No 517/2014, Article 7(1) of Implementing Regulation…
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Comunità energetiche rinnovabili (CER) e Corte Costituzionale
La Corte Costituzionale con sentenza n. 48/2023 del 9 febbraio 2023 si è espressa in materia di CER e incentivi regionali per realizzarle. In primo luogo ha rilevato che: le comunità di energia rinnovabile (CER) trovano specifica disciplina nell’art. 22 della direttiva (UE) 2018/2001 del Parlamento europeo e del Consiglio, dell’11 dicembre 2018, sulla promozione dell’uso dell’energia da fonti rinnovabili (rifusione). In particolare, definisce le CER come un «soggetto giuridico: “… a) che, conformemente al diritto nazionale applicabile, si basa sulla partecipazione aperta e volontaria, è autonomo ed è effettivamente controllato da azionisti o membri che sono situati nelle vicinanze degli impianti di produzione di energia da fonti rinnovabili che…
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EU regulation on deforestation-free products
On 19 April 2023, the European Parliament approved the regulation on deforestation-free products which: prohibits the placement of a number of agricultural and livestock products originating from deforested or degraded forest areas on the EU market; is part of European Green Deal; bloks imports associated with deforestation, particularly cattle (whether live, meat or leather), cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soy, timber and rubber. Now it is expected the endorsement by the European Council. The regulation will effectively be implemented 18 months after it comes into force. During this period, the European Commission will adopt implementing acts enabling member states and their respective customs authorities to apply the regulation, and also initiate…
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CBAM approved by EU Parliament. Next step: EU Council approval
On 18.04.2023, the EU Parliament approved the carbon border adjustment border mechanism (CBAM) together with other measures. Now, the mentioned measures must be formally endorsed by the EU Council. They will then be published in the EU Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. In other words, as it is possible to read on the EU Parliament website: “…In adopting these pieces of legislation, Parliament is responding to the expectations of citizens for the EU to accomplish and speed up the green transition as expressed in Proposals 3(1), 3(8), 3(9), 11(1) and 11(7), of the conclusions of the Conference on the Future of Europe…”. The AEO will be…
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Green economy, accise e legge delega fiscale 2023
L’accisa è un’imposta indiretta, a formazione progressiva e complessiva, monofase e legata al ciclo produttivo ma ora con l’articolo 12 della legge delega fiscale del 16 marzo 2023 dimostra la sua natura di tributo capace di realizzare politiche di natura ambientale. La norma sopra citata, infatti, recita quanto segue: “…il Governo osserva…i seguenti principi e criteri direttivi specifici per la revisione delle disposizioni in materia di accisa e delle altre imposte indirette sulla produzione e sui consumi: a) rimodulare le aliquote di accisa sui prodotti energetici e sull’energia elettrica in modo da tener conto dell’impatto ambientale di ciascun prodotto e con l’obiettivo di contribuire alla riduzione progressiva delle emissioni di…
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Raw materials: due diligence of the importer
As we indicated , on 16.03.2023, the European Commission (“Commission”) proposed a set of actions in order to ensure the European Union’s secure and sustainable access to critical raw materials, which is essential for the European Union to succeed in its green and digital transitions (for example: chemicals for the batteries). The Proposed Regulation aims to address supply risks in critical raw materials by (i) building the European Union’s capacity to supply critical raw materials through extraction, processing and recycling; (ii) diversifying external supplies of those materials; (iii) monitoring and mitigating existing and future supply risks; and (iv) ensuring the free movement of critical raw materials in the…
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EU critical raw materials assessed for 2023
The ecological transition and its customs impacts are affected by the results of the Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023- Final Report. This report lists the minerals to be considered as “critical”: Industrial and construction materials: aggregates, baryte, bentonite, borates, diatomite, feldspar, fluorspar, gypsum, kaolin clay, limestone, magnesite, natural graphite, perlite, phosphate rock, phosphorus, potash, silica sand, sulphur, talc; Iron and ferro-alloy materials: chromium, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, niobium, tantalum,titanium, titanium metal, tungsten, vanadium; Precious metals: gold, silver, and Platinum Group Metals (iridium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium); Rare earths: heavy rare earths – HREE (dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lutetium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, yttrium); light rare…
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EU critical raw materials act: the next steps of the EU green transition
The critical raw materials act announced on 16.03.2023 by the EU Commission is a comprehensive set of actions to ensure the EU’s access to a secure, diversified, affordable and sustainable supply of critical raw materials. The need of the EU is to mitigate the risks for supply chains related to such strategic dependencies to enhance its economic resilience; indeed, this can put at risk the EU’s efforts to meet its climate and digital objectives. This act: lists the critical raw materials( based on the final report “ Study on the Critical Raw Materials for the EU 2023”) and set up the following objectives: diversify the EU supply at least 10%…
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Guidelines on State aid, hydrogen, synthetic fuels and biofuels
The business relationships in the EU must be compliant with article 107 of Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which lays down that: “….any aid granted by a Member State…in any form whatsoever which distorts or threatens to distort competition by favouring certain undertakings or the production of certain goods shall, in so far as it affects trade between Member States, be incompatible with the internal market…” and again “…(b) aid to promote the execution of an important project of common European interest or to remedy a serious disturbance in the economy of a Member State; (c) aid to facilitate the development of certain economic activities or of…
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PNNR, contributi idrogeno, aree industriali dismesse
Il Decreto del Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica del 23 dicembre 2022 ha definito le modalità tecnico-operative per la concessione da parte delle Regioni e delle Province autonome delle agevolazioni previste dal PNNR a sostegno dei progetti destinati alla produzione di idrogeno rinnovabile in aree industriali dismesse. Le Regioni incluse da questa norma sono: Regione Marche, Regione Sardegna, Regione Veneto, Regione Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Regione Liguria, Regione Calabria, Regione Valle d’Aosta, Regione Toscana, Regione Lazio, Regione Lombardia, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Regione Basilicata, Regione Puglia, Regione Molise, Regione Piemonte, Regione Campania, Regione Emilia-Romagna, Regione Sicilia.