Judgment of the Court (Tenth Chamber) of 28 March 2019 — Commission v Ireland (System for collecting and treating waste water)
(Case C‑427/17)(1)
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 91/271/EEC — Collection and treatment of urban waste water — Exceptional circumstances — Best technical knowledge not entailing excessive costs — Principle that the costs should be proportionate — Burden of proof — Means of proof)
1.      Actions for failure to fulfil obligations — Proof of failure — Burden of proof on Commission — Production of evidence showing failure — Incumbent on Member State concerned to refute evidence
(Art. 258 TFEU)
(see paras 38-40, 57, 58)
2.      Actions for failure to fulfil obligations — Examination of the merits by the Court — Situation to be taken into consideration — Irrelevant
(Art. 258 TFEU)
(see paras 43, 50)
3.      Environment — Urban waste-water treatment — Directive 91/271 –Best technical knowledge not entailing excessive costs — Concept — Collection and treatment of wastewater in exceptional circumstances — Unusually heavy rainfall — Meaning — Discharges not resulting from unusual weather occurrences — Not included
(Council Directive 91/271, Art. 3(1) and (2) and Annex I, point A)
(see paras 118, 119, 125, 126, 129-131)
4.      Environment — Urban waste-water treatment — Directive 91/271 –Submission to secondary treatment of urban waste waters entering collection systems — Treatment of urban waste water by facilities suffering from under-capacity — Failure to fulfil obligations
(Council Directive 91/271, Arts 4(1) and (3) and 10 and Annex I, point B)
(see paras 152-155, 158, 177)
5.      Environment — Urban waste-water treatment — Directive 91/271 — Lack of collection systems for urban waste water –– Omission leading to infringement of the obligation to submit discharges to secondary treatment or equivalent
(Council Directive 91/271, Arts 3 and 4(1))
(see paras 165, 166)
6.      Environment — Urban waste-water treatment — Directive 91/271 –Submission to secondary treatment of urban waste waters entering collecton systems — Requirements concerning discharges of urban waste-water from treatment plants — Requirement to take representative samples — Non-compliance — Failure to fulfil obligations
(Council Directive 91/271, Arts 4(1) and (3) and 10 and Annex I, point B(1))
(see paras 167, 168, 170-174)
7.      Environment — Urban waste-water treatment — Directive 91/271 — More stringent treatment of discharges of urban waste water from agglomerations of more than 10 000 population equivalent –Discharges from agglomerations in an area deemed to be sensitive at the material time of the facts without having been made subject to more stringent treatment — Failure to fulfil obligations
(Council Directive 91/271, Arts 3 and 5(1), (2), (3) and (5) and Annex I, point B)
(see paras 181-187)
8.      Environment — Urban waste-water treatment — Directive 91/271 — Disposal of waste water from urban waste water treatment plants — No submission to prior regulations and/or specific authorisations — Failure to fulfil obligations
(Council Directive 91/271, Art. 12)
(see para. 229)
Operative part
The Court:
1.
Declares that Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations:
–        under Article 3(1) and (2) of Council Directive 91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste water treatment, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008, and section A and footnote 1 of Annex I thereto by not ensuring that the waters collected in a combined urban waste water and rainwater system are retained and conducted for treatment in compliance with the requirements of that directive, as amended, so far as concerns the agglomerations of Athlone, Cork City, Enniscorthy apart from the townland of Killagoley, Fermoy, Mallow, Midleton, Ringaskiddy and Roscommon Town;
–        under Article 4(1) and/or (3) of Directive 91/271 as amended by Regulation No 1137/2008, read in conjunction with Article 10 thereof and section B of Annex I thereto, by not putting in place secondary or equivalent treatment so far as concerns the agglomerations of Arklow, Athlone, Ballybofey/Stranorlar, Cobh, Cork City, Enfield, Enniscorthy, Fermoy, Killybegs, Mallow, Midleton, Passage/Monkstown, Rathcormac, Ringaskiddy, Ringsend, Roscommon Town, Shannon Town, Tubbercurry and Youghal;
–        under Article 5(2) and (3) of Directive 91/271 as amended by Regulation No 1137/2008, read in conjunction with Article 10 thereof and section B of Annex I thereto, by not ensuring that urban waste water entering collecting systems from the agglomerations of Athlone, Cork City, Dundalk, Enniscorthy apart from the townland of Killagoley, Fermoy, Killarney, Killybegs, Longford, Mallow, Midleton, Navan, Nenagh, Portarlington, Ringsend, Roscrea and Tralee be, before discharge into sensitive areas, made subject to treatment more stringent than that described in Article 4 of that directive, as amended, and in accordance with the requirements of section B of Annex I thereto; and
–        under Article 12 of Directive 91/271, as amended by Regulation No 1137/2008, by not ensuring that the disposal of waste water from urban waste water treatment plants of the agglomerations of Arklow and Castlebridge is subject to prior regulations and/or specific authorisation.
2.
Dismisses the action as to the remainder.
3.
Orders Ireland to pay the costs.
1 OJ C 293, 4.9.2017.