Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2001:679
Date: 2001-12-11
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Environment;Pollution
Procedure: Action for failure to fulfil obligations - successful
Origin: Italy

Summary of the Judgment 
Environment — Treatment of residual urban waste water — Directive 91/271 — 
Discharge into sensitive area — Concept 
(Art. 174(2) EC; second subpara, of Article 3(1) and Article 5(2) of Council Directive 
91/271) 
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SUMMARY — CASE C-396/00 
The second subparagraph of Article 3(1) of 
Directive 91/271, concerning the treatment 
of urban waste water, which deals with 
discharges of urban waste water into 
receiving waters considered sensitive areas, 
and Article 5(2) of the directive, which 
requires urban waste water entering col­
lecting systems to be subjected to more 
stringent treatment before discharge into 
sensitive areas, make no distinction 
between direct and indirect discharges into 
sensitive areas. 
That interpretation is, moreover, supported 
by the objective of the directive, which is, 
according to Article 1, the protection of the 
environment, and by Article 174(2) EC, 
which provides that Community policy on 
the environment is to aim at a high level of 
protection. 
That objective would be undermined if 
only waste water which discharges directly 
into a sensitive area had to be subjected to 
more stringent treatment than that men­
tioned in Article 4 of the directive. 
(see paras 30-32) 
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