Introduction

The EU's Court of Justice delivered its judgement in Joined Cases C-204/12 to C-208/12, Essent Belgium on 11 September 2014. In this decision, the Court essentially followed the same approach applied in its judgment in Case C-573/12, Ålands Vindkraft two months earlier. Both cases concerned the validity of national green certificate schemes for the promotion of investments in electricity production from renewables under EU law. The main question raised in both cases was whether the national support schemes at issue were contrary to the free movement of goods provisions of ...