Cities as the new environmental watchdog in the EU

The CJEU ruled on 13 December (2018) that cities such as Brussels, Paris, and Madrid have standing under Article 263 TFEU to challenge EU regulations if those regulations prevent them from exercising their regulatory powers. In this case, the cities successfully challenged the 'conformity factor' in Commission Regulation 2016/646, which had relaxed the Euro 6 emissions standard. The court found that the regulation restricted the cities' ability to ban vehicles that met the relaxed standard but exceeded stricter emission limits. This decision is framed as a landmark for access to justice, potentially allowing cities to act as environmental watchdogs and challenge other EU measures, such as the authorization of glyphosate.

• The CJEU determined that cities have legal standing to challenge EU acts under Article 263 TFEU if they are "directly concerned," which occurs when a state entity is "prevented from exercising its powers as it sees fit."
• The court ruled that Commission Regulation 2016/646 restricted the regulatory powers of cities by preventing them from banning cars that complied with the 'relaxed' Euro 6 standard (the conformity factor) but failed to meet the stricter emission limit.
• The judgement establishes that cities can challenge EU acts even if they are only prevented from making one specific decision, rather than being generally prevented from regulating an entire issue.
• The court affirmed that cities maintain the authority to implement general bans, such as car-free days, or ban vehicles that do not meet the Euro 6 standard, including a potential complete ban on all diesel vehicles.

APA

ClientEarth (2019). Cities as the new environmental watchdog in the EU. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/cities-as-the-new-environmental-watchdog-in-the-eu/

Chicago

ClientEarth. Cities as the new environmental watchdog in the EU. 2019. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/cities-as-the-new-environmental-watchdog-in-the-eu/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Cities as the new environmental watchdog in the EU |date=11 January 2019 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/cities-as-the-new-environmental-watchdog-in-the-eu/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2019cities, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Cities as the new environmental watchdog in the EU}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2019}, month = jan, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates-annual-newsletters/cities-as-the-new-environmental-watchdog-in-the-eu/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }