62021CJ0602_INF
Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 20 April 2023 –Commission v Poland (Environmental noise)
(Case C‑602/21) (
1
)
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 2002/49/EC – Assessment and management of environmental noise – Noise prevention – Major roads and major railways – Article 8(1) and (2) – Non-compliant or nonexistent action plans – Article 10(2) – Annex VI – Nonexistent summaries of action plans)
1.
Environment – Assessment and management of environmental noise – Directive 2002/49 – Obligation for the Member States to draw up action plans for agglomerations, major roads and major railways – Failure to adopt, within the time limits laid down by the Directive, action plans for the areas in which the limit values were not exceeded – Failure to fulfil obligations
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2002/49, Arts 8(1) and (2) and 10(2) and Annex VI)
(see paragraphs 28-30, operative part 1)
2.
Environment – Assessment and management of environmental noise – Directive 2002/49 – Obligation for the Member States to draw up action plans for agglomerations, major roads and major railways – Action plans which do not include actions intended to be taken in the next five years to preserve quiet areas – Failure to fulfil obligations
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2002/49, Arts 8(1) and (2) and 10(2) and Annex VI)
(see paragraphs 35, 36, operative part 1)
3.
Environment – Assessment and management of environmental noise – Directive 2002/49 – Obligation for the Member States to draw up action plans for major roads and major railways – Obligation to communicate summaries of those action plans to the Commission – Failure to fulfil obligations – Justification based on the non-use of major roads or the carrying out of additional analyses – Justification based on a change to the noise limit values or the fact that those values were not exceeded – Not permissible
(European Parliament and Council Directive 2002/49, Arts 8(1) and (2) and 10(2) and Annex VI)
(see paragraphs 41-45, 47, 48, operative part 1)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Declares that the Republic of Poland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 8(1) and (2), Annex V, point 1, ninth indent, and Article 10(2) of Directive 2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2002 relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise, read in conjunction with Annex VI of that directive:
–
by failing to adopt, within the time limits laid down by that directive, action plans for the areas in which the limit values were not exceeded;
–
by failing to make provision for the action plans to include actions intended to be taken in the next five years to preserve quiet areas;
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by failing to draw up action plans concerning the 13 major railways and 247 major roads referred to in Annex A to the present judgment; and
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by failing to submit summaries of the action plans concerning those major railways and major roads as well as the 16 major roads referred to in Annex B to the present judgment.
2.
Orders the Republic of Poland to pay the costs.
(
1
)	OJ C 490, 6.12.2021.