# C_2007269EN.01003302.xml

| 10.11.2007 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 269/33 |
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10.11.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 269/33

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Appeal brought on 3 September 2007 by the Kingdom of the Netherlands against the judgment delivered by the Court of First Instance (Fourth Chamber) on 27 June 2007 in Case T-182/06 Kingdom of the Netherlands v Commission of the European Communities

(Case C-405/07 P)

(2007/C 269/57)

Language of the case: Dutch

Parties

Appellant: Kingdom of the Netherlands (represented by: D.J.M. de Grave and C.M. Wissels, Agents)

Appellant:

Other party to the proceedings: Commission of the European Communities

Other party to the proceedings:

Form of order sought

| — | Set aside the judgment under appeal; |
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Set aside the judgment under appeal;

| — | Refer the case back to the Court of First Instance in order that it may rule on the other pleas in law; |
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Refer the case back to the Court of First Instance in order that it may rule on the other pleas in law;

| — | Order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings. |
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Order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

The appellant puts forward two pleas in support of its appeal.

By its first plea, the appellant submits that the Court of First Instance misconstrued the duty of care and the duty to give reasons pursuant to Article 253 EC in ruling that the Commission had not breached those duties in the case where relevant information supplied by the Member State concerned prior to the contested decision (1) was, without specific reasons, left out of account in that decision.

1

By its second plea, the appellant submits that the Court of First Instance applied incorrect legal criteria when it ruled, in the context of the examination into whether there was a specific problem within the terms of Article 95(5) EC, that:

| (i) | the existence of a specific problem with regard to air quality must be examined solely on the basis of the criteria in Directive 1999/30/EC (2), without the impossibility for a Member State to adopt measures designed to prevent cross-border pollution and criteria such as high demographic density, vehicle traffic intensity in many areas and the location of residential areas along traffic routes being capable of having relevance in that regard; and |
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(i)

the existence of a specific problem with regard to air quality must be examined solely on the basis of the criteria in Directive 1999/30/EC (2), without the impossibility for a Member State to adopt measures designed to prevent cross-border pollution and criteria such as high demographic density, vehicle traffic intensity in many areas and the location of residential areas along traffic routes being capable of having relevance in that regard; and

2

| (ii) | there can be no question of a specific problem in the aforementioned sense if a very small number of Member States also are experiencing a problem in connection with air quality. |
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(ii)

there can be no question of a specific problem in the aforementioned sense if a very small number of Member States also are experiencing a problem in connection with air quality.

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(1)  Commission Decision 2006/372/EC of 3 May 2006 concerning draft national provisions notified by the Kingdom of the Netherlands under Article 95(5) of the EC Treaty laying down limits on the emissions of particulate matter by diesel-powered vehicles (OJ 2006 L 142, p. 16).

1

(2)  Council Directive of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air (OJ 1999 L 163, p. 41).

2

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