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| Doubts on the legal validity of the GO mechanism  A legal opinion from the University of Cambridge, commissioned by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), confirms doubts on the legal validity of the European Commission's Guarantees of Origin (GO) mechanism. The GO mechanism is a key part of the Commission's proposed new directive on renewable energy, currently under discussion in the European Council and by the European Parliament's ITRE Committee. In its draft Renewable Energy Directive, the European Commission proposed that Member States and private parties be able to engage in a virtual trade in Guarantees of Origin (GO). This was intended to provide flexibility in reaching the 20% renewables target. To protect Member States' renewable policies and support systems, the proposal enables Member States to limit GO trade by companies.However, serious concerns exist as to whether this regulation of GO trade is compatible with the EU Treaty, although the Commission continues to maintain that its proposal is legally sound. EWEA therefore made an official request to the Commission to see its legal opinion. The Commission failed to make its legal opinion available. EWEA has therefore published a legal opinion on the issue from the University of Cambridge, which concludes that "some doubts exist, whether the provisions given in the proposed directive to limit trade at installation level are sufficient and legally robust". EWEA's legal opinion argues that the EU Treaty would protect the rights of private parties to trade GO to other private parties – rights "enforceable in a national court" against attempts to restrict such trade. "For EWEA, it is essential that Member States are able to regulate GO trade in order to protect and maintain control of national support mechanisms and safeguard market stability: crucial conditions for meeting the 20% target", said Christian Kjaer, EWEA Chief Executive. EWEA supports the discussions in the Council and European Parliament on replacing the Commission's 'opt-out' GO system with 'opt-in' mechanisms such as the statistical transfer of surplus renewable energy between Member States, target accounting certificates, renewables projects shared between Member States and 'joint target compliance' agreements. Such mechanisms would improve flexibility and be compatible with the internal market. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Construction News :: home page |