Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

CJEU Advocate General in C‑255/22 P: proposes dismissing Orlen appeal; energy solidarity cannot widen Article 9 Gazprom commitments; no duty to justify abandoning objections; manifest error standard upheld

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Practice notes

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Case facts

Outline Appeals challenge the General Court’s judgment in Case T-616/18, which dismissed an attempt to set aside the Commission’s decision to accept binding commitments proposed by Gazprom under Article 9 of Regulation 1/2003. Those commitments were intended to resolve competition concerns that Gazprom had abused its dominant position in Central and Eastern European gas markets.

Outcome

On 6 June 2024, Advocate General Rantos delivered his opinion advising the Court of Justice to reject the appeal. He found, among other points, that the General Court did not err in declining to treat the Commission’s application of the principle of energy solidarity as equivalent to imposing positive obligations on the Commission that exceeded the scope of the complaints brought against Gazprom.

Parties

Applicant: Orlen S.A., formerly Polski Koncern Naftowy Orlen S.A., formerly Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo S.A. (Orlen)
Defendant: European Commission (the Commission)

Background – Commission’s investigation

Between 2011 and 2015, the Commission adopted several measures to examine how gas markets functioned in central and eastern Europe...

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