French Court Repeals Law on Regulated Gas Prices
France's highest administrative court repealed on Wednesday a law on regulated gas prices, under which about half of France's residential clients and 11 percent of professional users buy gas, saying it hurt competition and was against EU regulations. "The Council of State...repeals the decree of 16 May 2013 on the regulated tariffs for the sale of natural gas on the grounds that the maintenance of such tariffs is contrary to European Union laws," the court said in a statement.
GTT Board Adds Two Directors
GTT announced that its Board of Directors met on October 14th and appointed two new members, Andrew Jamieson and, following the proposal of ENGIE, Benoît Mignard. They are succeeding respectively to Laurent Maurel and Olivier Jacquier, both resigning from their mandate. As a reminder, Sandra Lagumina was also following the proposal of ENGIE, appointed by the Board of Directors that met on the 21th of July. She succeeded to Secil Torun.
Dutch Court to Rule on Eemskanaal Gas Field by June 1
A Dutch court will rule on a request to restrict gas production at Eemskanaal, part of the large Groningen gas field, by June 1, Council of State spokeswoman Sabine Heijstek-van Leussen said. The court, which has previously rejected a request to restrict production at Eemskanaal, decided on Thursday it would issue a preliminary ruling on a second complaint lodged by residents. Production at Groningen has become increasingly controversial due to small earthquakes, which have damaged homes and buildings across the region.
Dutch Govt. to Halt Gas Output in Part of Groningen Field
The Dutch government said it would immediately implement a court order to halt production in part of Europe's largest gas field after a ruling that raised industry concerns of further output curbs because of safety fears over earthquakes. In a preliminary ruling on Tuesday, the Council of State ordered the government to a halt production around the village of Loppersum in the northern province of Groningen, where the gas field is located.
Dutch Court Orders Production Cut at Part of Groningen Field
A Dutch high court on Tuesday ordered a temporary halt to gas production around Loppersum, in the northern province of Groningen, because of safety concerns from earthquakes. In a preliminary ruling, the Council of State said it would however not order a complete halt to gas production at the Groningen gas field, as complainants had sought. Loppersum production was previously capped at 3 billion cubic meters (bcm) for 2015, representing roughly 9 percent of overall production from the Groningen field, Europe's largest.
Dutch Court to Hear Challenge to Cabinet's Gas Production Plan
The Netherlands' highest court for administrative law has agreed to hear a challenge to the government's plan for output from the Groningen gas field, a spokeswoman confirmed on Thursday. Production from Groningen, Europe's largest gas field, has become increasingly controversial since the Dutch Safety Board found in February that the government had not adequately considered the danger from the earthquakes that it causes. Judges at the Council of State will hear the request for summary judgment on April 1…
EU's Top Court Asked to Rule on Industry's CO2 Permit Challenges
The Dutch national court has asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to rule on the legal challenges filed by heavy industry over how many free emissions permits they are due to receive through to 2020 under the EU's carbon market. The Dutch Council of State on Wednesday requested the ECJ, Europe's highest court, make a preliminary ruling on whether the European Commission had correctly calculated a reduction in the number of permits - subsidies worth billions of euros - that would be earmarked for industrial firms.
