September 08, 2008

EU court rejects US Steel Kosice lawsuit over CO2 cap

Reuters reported that a European Union court has rejected a lawsuit filed by the Slovak unit of US Steel Corp against the European Commission over the proposed carbon emission limits. The Commission set the Slovak annual cap for 2008-2012 at 30.9 million tonnes, compared with Bratislava's request of 41.26 million.

Mr Juraj Baca a spokesman of US Steel Kosice said that "The Court's decision is negative it's a disappointment for us. We have received the decision and we need to study it, therefore we will neither talk about details, nor possible alternatives."

US Steel Kosice challenged the European Commission in February 2007 over cuts in the proposed carbon dioxide emissions cap for 2008-2012.

Slovakia which filed its own lawsuit against the European Commission in February 2007 became the first country to launch a court challenge against the European Union after Brussels cut its proposed CO2 emissions limit by 25%.