# C_2004284EN.01000102.xml

| 20.11.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | C 284/1 |
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JUDGMENT OF THE COURT

(Second Chamber)

of 23 September 2004

in Case C-280/02 Commission of the European Communities v French Republic( 1 )

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations - Directive 91/271/EEC - Urban waste water treatment - Article 5(1) and (2) and Annex II - Failure to identify sensitive areas - Meaning of ‘eutrophication’ - Failure to implement more stringent treatment of discharges into sensitive areas)

(2004/C 284/02)

Language of the case: French

In Case C-280/02: Commission of the European Communities (Agents: M. Nolin and subsequently G. Valero Jordana and F. Simonetti) against French Republic (Agents: G. de Bergues, D. Petrausch and E. Puisais) — action under Article 226 EC for failure to fulfil obligations, brought on 30 July 2002, the Court (Second Chamber), composed of: C.W.A. Timmermans, President of the Chamber, J.-P. Puissochet, R. Schintgen, F. Macken (Rapporteur) and N. Colneric, Judges; L.A. Geelhoed, Advocate General; R. Grass, Registrar, has given a judgment on 23 September 2004, in which it:

| 1. | Declares that, by having failed:
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to identify the Seine bay, the Seine downstream of its confluence with the Andelle, the coastal waters of the Artois-Picardy basin, Vilaine bay, the Lorient roadstead, Elorn estuary, Douarnenez bay, Concarneau bay, the Gulf of Morbihan, the Vistre downstream from Nîmes and Thau lagoon as sensitive areas with respect to eutrophication, and —
to subject to more stringent treatment discharges of urban waste water from the agglomerations — except for Vichy, Aix-en-Provence, Mâcon, Créhange, Saint-Avold, Bailleul, Aurillac, Montauban, Châtillon-sur-Seine and Gray — referred to in the French authorities' letter of 12 December 2000 and from the Montpellier agglomeration, and to subject to more stringent treatment discharges of urban waste water from agglomerations with a population equivalent (p.e.) of more than 10 000 into the Seine bay, the Seine downstream of its confluence with the Andelle, the coastal waters of the Artois-Picardy basin, Vilaine bay, the Lorient roadstead, Elorn estuary, Douarnenez bay, Concarneau bay, the Gulf of Morbihan, the Vistre downstream from Nîmes and Thau lagoon, the French Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations pursuant to Article 5(1) and (2) of, and Annex II to, Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment; | — | to identify the Seine bay, the Seine downstream of its confluence with the Andelle, the coastal waters of the Artois-Picardy basin, Vilaine bay, the Lorient roadstead, Elorn estuary, Douarnenez bay, Concarneau bay, the Gulf of Morbihan, the Vistre downstream from Nîmes and Thau lagoon as sensitive areas with respect to eutrophication, and | — | to subject to more stringent treatment discharges of urban waste water from the agglomerations — except for Vichy, Aix-en-Provence, Mâcon, Créhange, Saint-Avold, Bailleul, Aurillac, Montauban, Châtillon-sur-Seine and Gray — referred to in the French authorities' letter of 12 December 2000 and from the Montpellier agglomeration, and to subject to more stringent treatment discharges of urban waste water from agglomerations with a population equivalent (p.e.) of more than 10 000 into the Seine bay, the Seine downstream of its confluence with the Andelle, the coastal waters of the Artois-Picardy basin, Vilaine bay, the Lorient roadstead, Elorn estuary, Douarnenez bay, Concarneau bay, the Gulf of Morbihan, the Vistre downstream from Nîmes and Thau lagoon, |
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| — | to identify the Seine bay, the Seine downstream of its confluence with the Andelle, the coastal waters of the Artois-Picardy basin, Vilaine bay, the Lorient roadstead, Elorn estuary, Douarnenez bay, Concarneau bay, the Gulf of Morbihan, the Vistre downstream from Nîmes and Thau lagoon as sensitive areas with respect to eutrophication, and | | | | |
| — | to subject to more stringent treatment discharges of urban waste water from the agglomerations — except for Vichy, Aix-en-Provence, Mâcon, Créhange, Saint-Avold, Bailleul, Aurillac, Montauban, Châtillon-sur-Seine and Gray — referred to in the French authorities' letter of 12 December 2000 and from the Montpellier agglomeration, and to subject to more stringent treatment discharges of urban waste water from agglomerations with a population equivalent (p.e.) of more than 10 000 into the Seine bay, the Seine downstream of its confluence with the Andelle, the coastal waters of the Artois-Picardy basin, Vilaine bay, the Lorient roadstead, Elorn estuary, Douarnenez bay, Concarneau bay, the Gulf of Morbihan, the Vistre downstream from Nîmes and Thau lagoon, | | | | |

| 2. | Dismisses the remainder of the action; |
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| 3. | Orders the French Republic to pay the costs. |
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( 1 )  OJ C 219 of 14.9.2002.

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