Key facts
- The Court of Justice of the EU rejected Poland's challenges to seven climate laws, including the 2035 zero-emission car target.
- Judges also dismissed challenges to the EU carbon border tax, energy efficiency rules and national emissions reduction targets.
- Poland argued the laws required unanimous approval by EU governments; the court ruled a qualified majority sufficed.
- Six lawsuits were filed in July and August 2023 under the Law and Justice government; a seventh was lodged on December 14, 2023.
- Tusk's government reviewed the cases but decided not to withdraw them, the report said.
The Court of Justice of the European Union on November 12, 2026 rejected Poland's challenges to seven EU climate laws, upholding measures that include the 2035 target for zero-emission cars and carbon pricing for heating and transport, POLITICO reported.
The rulings uphold key parts of the EU's Green Deal and end a legal campaign begun under Poland's previous nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government. Six lawsuits were filed in July and August 2023, while PiS was in power. The seventh was lodged on December 14, 2023, a day after Prime Minister Donald Tusk took office with a promise to repair Warsaw's relations with Brussels. Tusk's pro-EU administration reviewed the cases but decided not to withdraw them.
Poland argued the laws would fundamentally reshape its coal-dependent energy system and therefore required unanimous approval by EU governments, effectively giving Warsaw a veto. The court rejected that argument, ruling the measures could be adopted by a qualified majority of member countries. The judges also dismissed challenges to the bloc's carbon border tax, energy efficiency rules and national emissions reduction targets.
The court's decisions are final. Tusk's Poland is still among the countries pushing to weaken parts of the EU's climate legislation, including by seeking to delay the new carbon market for heating and transport, known as ETS2.