When Environmental Provisions Acquire Primacy Over the Economic Interests – Case Comment of the Preliminary Ruling in Case C-626/22 C.Z. and Others v Ilva

Authors

Katarzyna Błaszczak, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University LublinFollow
Michał Krzaczek, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University LublinFollow

ORCID

Katarzyna Błaszczak – 0009-0002-5470-4225

Michał Krzaczek – 0009-0008-5970-8296

Keywords

IED Directive, Ilva case, industrial emissions, sustainable development, human rights

Abstract

This case note analyses the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) preliminary ruling in case C-626/22 (C. Z. and Others v Ilva). The Court interpreted the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), ruling that Member States cannot derogate from minimum EU environmental requirements. The ruling established that environmental permits must consider all scientifically known harmful substances that could be emitted by installations. The Court also ruled that national regulations permitting repeated extensions to deadlines for installation operations, despite the identification of serious environmental and health risks, were incompatible with the IED. The CJEU’s interpretation confirms the primacy of environmental and health protection over the economic interests of individual enterprises and states. Furthermore, it highlights the increasing significance of the sustainable development principle in legal applications. This case note provides a contextualisation of the ruling within previous national and European case law and offers critical reflections on its legal and practical implications.

Acknowledgements

Funding

This article received no funding.

Declaration of Conflict of Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and publication of this article.

Declaration about the scope of AI utilization

The author did not use AI in the preparation of this article.

Recommended Citation

Błaszczak, K., & Krzaczek, M. (2025). When Environmental Provisions Acquire Primacy Over the Economic Interests – Case Comment of the Preliminary Ruling in Case C-626/22 C.Z. and Others v Ilva. Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies, 18(32), 155-178. https://doi.org/10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2025.18.32.7

First Page

155

Last Page

178

Page Count

24

Received Date

11.08.2025

Accepted Date

06.10.2025

DOI

10.7172/1689-9024.YARS.2025.18.32.7

JEL Code

K23; K32; K33

Publisher

University of Warsaw