Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 8 September 2016 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Verwaltungsgericht Berlin — Germany) — E.ON Kraftwerke GmbH v Bundesrepublik Deutschland

(Case C-461/15) (1)

((Reference for a preliminary ruling - Environment - Greenhouse gas emission allowance trading scheme within the European Union - Directive 2003/87/EC - Harmonised free allocation of emission allowances - Decision 2011/278/EU - Change to the allocation - Article 24(1) - Obligation of the operator of the installation to provide information - Scope))

(2016/C 402/14)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Verwaltungsgericht Berlin

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: E.ON Kraftwerke GmbH

Defendant: Bundesrepublik Deutschland

Operative part of the judgment

Article 24(1) of Commission Decision 2011/278/EU of 27 April 2011 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances pursuant to Article 10a of Directive 2003/87/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council must be interpreted as not precluding a Member State from requiring undertakings which, being subject to the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading obligation within the European Union, receive a free allocation of those allowances to provide information relating to all planned or effective changes to the capacity, activity level and operation of an installation, without limiting that requirement solely to information relating to changes that would affect the allocation.

(1)  OJ C 398, 30.11.2015.