summary of the case
| status: | opened under Article 91 |
| registered: | ex officio |
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The subject matter of this case is the non-compliance with the emission ceilings established under the National Emission Reduction Plan (NERP) in Serbia. The Secretariat preliminarily concluded that the large combustion plants operating in the Contracting Party under the NERP have failed to meet one or more of the emission ceilings established for sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and dust. Directive 2001/80/EC took effect in the Energy Community on 1 January 2018. The directive requires operators of large combustion plants to significantly reduce the emissions of the air pollutants listed above. NERPs are an instrument to comply with the provisions of the directive. |
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REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
procedural history
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16 March 2021: Opening letter
Case
On 16 March 2021, the Secretariat sent an Opening Letter to Serbia to address the non-compliance with the emission ceilings of the National Emission Reduction Plan (NERP) for the reporting years 2018 and 2019.
Reasoning
In the Opening Letter, the Secretariat takes the view that Serbia failed to comply with one or more of the ceilings (for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and dust) in the NERP. Furthermore, Serbia failed to provide emission scenarios that would ensure compliance with the provisions of the plan in the coming years.
Procedure
By sending the Opening Letter, the Secretariat initiated a preliminary procedure, the purpose of which is to give Serbia the opportunity to react to the allegation of non-compliance with Energy Community law within two months and to enable the Secretariat to establish the full background of the case.
According to Articles 7 and 17 of the Rules of Procedure for Dispute Settlement, interested parties may be granted access to the case file and may submit written observations on the present case to the Secretariat during the preliminary procedure. All requests for information on this case should be addressed to the Deputy Director and Legal Counsel at [email protected] or +43 1 535 2222 24 and should refer to the case number ECS-10/21.
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28 July 2025: Reasoned Opinion
Due to the lack of progress, the Secretariat advanced the case by issuing a Reasoned Opinion on 28 July 2025. A breach of the ceiling for sulphur dioxide persists ever since the opening of the case and that of nitrogen oxides was first observed in the 2023 reporting year and repeated itself in the 2024 reporting year. This is mainly due the fact that those ceilings are getting lower over time.