Directive 2003/87/EC Art. 10c (5) of the European Parliament and of the Council gives Poland the right to request free allowances as an exception to the rule that allowances must be bought at auction during the next stage of implementing the European Trading System (ETS).
Until a utility is operational, the allowances are allocated into public support to cover construction costs. However, only construction projects begun before 13 December 2008 are entitled to such allowances.
The Polish government gave the European Commission a list of utilities proposed for construction under the Polish National Investment Plan. However, 30 of these utilities, including Elektrownia Północ, have not even been granted the right to begin construction before the indicated date. According to ClientEarth representative Marcin Stoczkiewicz, Poland didn’t even follow its own laws, as the definition provided in the Greenhouse Gases Emission Management Act refers to the Building Law, which provides an exhaustive list of actions that initiate the investment process.
Poland’s creative interpretation of the European law has aggravated foreign public opinion and may cost our country even more if a complaint is filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union; plans for such a complaint were announced by, among others, MEP (Member of the European Parliament) Lidia Geringer d’Oedenberg.
Even though modern coal plants have implemented increasingly effective measures that limit air pollution, no technology exists to date that would eliminate carbon dioxide emissions from large installations. Moreover, such installations emit many other harmful substances, such as sulfur and nitrogen compounds, radioactive elements, particulates and heavy metals.

EVEN CUTTING-EDGE INSTALLATIONS STILL AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT
It’s difficult to judge at this point whether the ruling of the European Commission will prevent particular investments from happening; nonetheless, it certainly makes it more problematic for investors to receive external funding for the planned enterprises. It’s especially difficult for establishments that lack the appropriate decisions and allowances required by the law as well as for an establishment against which a court proceeding is currently taking place.
As Kuba Gogolewski, a member of the nongovernmental organization CEE Bankwatch Network, stated: “The decision of the European Commission is a warning for Poland that attempting to work against the low-emission technologies and renewable energy policy promoted by the EU is bound to fail. It’s definitely a red light for enterprises like Eletrownia Północ.”