Judgment — ECLI:EU:C:2012:712
Date: 2012-11-15
Language of the case: Portuguese
Court formation: First Chamber
Subject matter: Environment;Pollution
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful;Action for failure to fulfil obligations - inadmissible
Origin: Portugal

summary of the pleas in law on which the application is based and that statement must be sufficiently clear and precise to enable the defendant to prepare its defence and the Court to rule on the application. It is therefore necessary for the essential points of law and fact on which a case is based to be indicated coherently and intelligibly in the application itself and for the form of order sought to be set out unambiguously so that the Court does not rule ultra petita or indeed fail to rule on a claim (see, inter alia, Case C‑211/08 Commission v Spain [2010] ECR I‑5267, paragraph 32; Case C‑185/11 Commission v Slovenia, paragraph 29; and judgment of 19 April 2012 in Case C‑141/10 Commission v Netherlands, paragraph 15). 45 In the present case, it follows from the form of order sought in the application that the action of the Commission relates only to the zones and agglomerations of Braga, Porto Litoral, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Norte and Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Sul. Furthermore, in relation to the question as to which types of limit values set for PM10 have been exceeded, the Commission has, in its reply, restricted the subject of its action to only the daily limit values for PM10. 46 However, the Commission does not specify, either in the form of order sought in the application or in the grounds thereof, the years for which the breach of obligations is alleged. In invoking only Directive 2008/50, it merely alleges that there is a current breach of obligations and that the Court’s decision must apply to the present and not the past, without however specifying the period referred to. 47 In those circumstances, it must be stated that the absence of an indispensable element from the content of the application initiating proceedings, such as the period during which the Portuguese Republic, according to the Commission’s assertions, has infringed European Union law, does not satisfy the requirements of coherence, clarity and precision. 48 In addition, inasmuch as the Commission does not set out the exact period concerned by the alleged breach of obligations and fails, moreover, to provide pertinent evidence in laconically stating that it has no legal interest in this case in seeking from the Court a ruling on past facts given that it gains no advantage from a judgment making a finding in relation to a past situation, the Commission not only manifestly fails to have regard to the obligations, both for the Court and for itself, resulting from the case‑law cited at paragraphs 43 and 44 of this judgment, but also fails to put the Court in a position to rule on these infringement proceedings. 49 It should however be noted that, as is apparent from the documents in the case, the verification of the annual reports relating to the years 2005, 2006 and 2007, submitted by the Portuguese Republic to the Commission, showed that daily limit values for PM10 had been exceeded in several zones and agglomerations. On the basis of these reports, the Commission sent the Portuguese Republic a letter of formal notice, in which it considered that this Member State was not complying with the obligations laid down in Article 5(1) of Directive 1999/30. The Commission finally acknowledged, during the hearing, firstly, that the evidence on which it is basing its action is constituted by the data resulting from the annual reports relating to the years 2005, 2006 and 2007, and, secondly, given that there was no general and continuous breach of these obligations, that there was no systemic problem. 50 These conclusive indications demonstrate that the breach of the obligations imposed by Article 5(1) of Directive 1999/30 concerns, on any view, the daily limit values for PM10 in ambient air being exceeded and covers the period from 2005 to 2007 in the zones and agglomerations of Braga, Porto Litoral, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Norte and Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Sul. 51 Therefore, these infringement proceedings, within the limits thus defined, may be declared admissible. 52 In relation to the merits of this action, it need only be noted that the Portuguese Republic admits, in its observations, that the limit values applicable to the daily PM10 concentrations in ambient air were exceeded within the limits noted at paragraph 50 of this judgment. 53 Consequently, the action should be upheld within these limits. 54 That said, it should be found that, in so far as the action covers the period subsequent to 2007, it does not satisfy the requirements of clarity and precision for the reasons set out at paragraphs 47 and 48 of this judgment and must accordingly be dismissed as inadmissible. 55 As a consequence, it is inappropriate, contrary to what the Commission appears to advance in the form of order sought in the application, to take into consideration Directive 2008/50. This directive is not in fact applicable to the facts complained of in relation to the Member State concerned, which are earlier in time than 11 June 2008, the date of its publication and entry into force. 56 Having regard to the preceding considerations, it must be held that, by having failed to ensure that, for the years 2005 to 2007, the daily concentrations of PM10 in ambient air did not exceed the limit values set in Article 5(1) of Directive 1999/30 in the zones and agglomerations of Braga, Porto Litoral, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Norte and Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Sul, the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under this provision. Costs 57 Under Article 138(1) of the Rules of Procedure, the unsuccessful party is to be ordered to pay the costs if they have been applied for in the successful party’s pleadings. Under the first sentence of Article 138(3), the parties are to bear their own costs where each party succeeds on some and fails on other heads. 58 In the present case, account should be taken of the fact that the Commission’s complaint in respect of non-compliance with the obligations resulting from Article 13 of Directive 2008/50, in relation to the period following 2007, has been declared inadmissible. 59 Accordingly, the Commission and the Portuguese Republic should each be ordered to bear their own costs. On those grounds, the Court (First Chamber) hereby: 1. Declares that, by having failed to ensure that, for the years 2005 to 2007, the daily concentrations of PM10 in ambient air did not exceed the limit values set in Article 5(1) of Council Directive 1999/30/EC of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air, in the zones and agglomerations of Braga, Porto Litoral, Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Norte and Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Sul, the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under this provision; 2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder; 3. Orders the European Commission and the Portuguese Republic to bear their own costs. [Signatures] * Language of the case: Portuguese.