1. EU regulation of cross-border carbon capture and storage
5/2/2019
EU regulation of cross-border carbon capture and storage
Legal issues under the CCS Directive in the light of primary EU law
EU regulation of cross-border carbon capture and storage
Legal issues under the CCS Directive in the light of primary EU law
Marijn Holwerda
Groningen Centre of Energy Law

2. Introduction - I Importance of cross-border EU CCS deployment growing
Poor public acceptance onshore CO2 storage (e.g., NL, GER, DK)
Industry interest in offshore enhanced oil recovery
CCS Directive not drafted to facilitate cross-border CCS
Only two provisions mention cross-border CO2 transport/storage
Arts 22(2) and 24 deal with it in a very rudimentary manner

3. Introduction - II
In fact, several provisions could hinder cross-border CCS:
Art. 12(1) [CO2 stream purity criteria]
Art. 21(2)(b)&(c) [refusing access to CCS infrastructure]
Arts 19 and 20 [financial safeguards]
But, they exist in the context of primary EU law

4. Research questions Selected a number of potentially hindering issues
To answer the following two research questions:
To what extent could these issues indeed hinder future cross-border deployment of CCS in the EU?
To what extent is the legislative approach of the CCS Directive likely to lead to problems for the cross-border deployment of new technogies such as CCS?

5. Findings - I First research question: Second research question:
Most issues not likely to hinder cross-border CCS
Second research question:
On the whole: primary EU law provides proper safety net

6. Findings - II Yet, some problems remain
Biggest problem: availability and accessibility of CO2 transport and storage infrastructure
Possible solutions:
Amendment of CCS Directive after review
Common EU strategy for CO2 transport and storage

7. Thank you for your attention!