One component of the Fit-for-55 climate package is a revision of the European Emissions Trading System (ETS) to allow the ETS to also contribute to the target of 55% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030 compared to 1990. The changes to the ETS proposed by the European Commission include the inclusion of maritime transport in the ETS, a separate ETS … Read more
On 29 January 2020, the Rotterdam District Court ruled on the question of which laws are applicable to the tort claims brought by (former) Petrobras investors against Petrobras (ECLI:NL:RBROT:2020:614). The Court applied the main rule of EU Regulation Rome II (the “Rome II Regulation”), which stipulates that the law applicable to claims in tort is the law of the country … Read more
On 1 October 2019, legislation will enter into force ending the KEI pilot scheme for digital litigation at the courts of Gelderland and Central Netherlands (Midden-Nederland). However, certain new procedural rules, which were part of the digitalisation pilot, will remain in force and will apply to all Dutch courts. End of digital litigation The pilot for digital litigation started on … Read more
What if an agreement between parties is in violation of a statutory provision, but the parties do not raise this point in proceedings? Should the court ascertain this violation ex officio and determine whether the contract is void or valid nonetheless (which may be the case under Dutch contract law)? This question was recently submitted to the Dutch Supreme Court … Read more
On 27 November 2015, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that a decision on the question of relativity can be obtained in a collective action (ECLI:NL:HR:2015:3399). The concept of relativity in Dutch law concerns the protective scope of a rule and entails that non-contractual damages can only be obtained if the rule that has been violated is intended to protect the … Read more
On 24 June 2015 the Dutch State was ordered to take more action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. The Hague court ruled that the State has to ensure that emissions in the Netherlands in the year 2020 will be at least 25% lower than those in 1990. Urgenda vs. the Dutch State: grounds of appeal The claimant … Read more
On 9 December 2022, Minister Jetten for Climate and Energy presented to the Second Chamber of the House of Representatives his further elaboration of the coalition agreement’s intentions on nuclear energy. In a previous blog, we have already discussed in detail the actions arising from the coalition agreement. In this blog post, we interpret the government’s thinking on nuclear energy … Read more
On 13 July 2022, the Administrative Law Division of the Council of State (the Council of State) (Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State) ruled in an important judgment that the standard penalty amounts applied by the Minister of Social Affairs and Employment (the Minister) for violations of the Foreign Nationals Act (FNA) are unreasonable. The Council of State ruled … Read more
On 1 July 2022, Minister Jetten for Climate and Energy informed the Lower House about the actions the government has taken to implement the coalition agreement in the area of nuclear energy. On the same date, he answered questions from MPs Erkens (VVD) and Kops (PVV) about the models for financing new nuclear power stations in our country and about … Read more
Climate case Milieudefensie et al. – The Hague District Court orders Shell to reduce CO2 emissions INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY On 26 May 2021, (ECLI:NL:RBDHA:2021:5339) the District Court of The Hague rendered its judgment in ‘the climate case of the century’. An alliance of associations and foundations, together with over 17,000 individual claimants, with Milieudefensie as their representative summoned Royal Dutch … Read more