Case C-10/01: Action brought on 21 March 2001 by the Commission of the European Communities against the French Republic
Date: 2001-05-19
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, France, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, industrial pollution, pollution control measures, water pollution

C 150/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

19.5.2001

Action brought on 21 March 2001 by the Commission of
the European Communities against the French Republic

(Case C-10/01)

(2001/C 150/30)

An action against the French Republic was brought before the
Court of Justice of the European Communities on 21 March
2001 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by G. Valero Jordana and J. Adda, acting as Agents,
with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— find that, by failing to adopt pollution reduction pro-
grammes including quality objectives for the 99 danger-
ous substances listed in the Annex and failing to com-
municate to the Commission summaries of those pro-
grammes and the results of their implementation, con-
trary to Article 7 of Directive 76/464/EEC, (1) the French
Republic has failed to fulfil
its obligations under the
Treaty;

— order the French Republic to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Although the French Republic has communicated a certain
number of measures supposedly constituting a national pro-
gramme as referred to in Article 7(1) of the Directive,
it
challenges, in a manner that becomes more marked as its
correspondence progresses, the duty to implement reduction
programmes under Article 7 of the Directive including quality
the Directive.
objectives for the substances in List
Although the French Republic has implemented certain
measures intended to combat pollution by dangerous sub-
stances, those measures do not amount to proper implemen-
tation of Article 7 of Directive 76/464/EEC as regards the
implementation of programmes to reduce pollution caused by
the relevant substances in List II including quality objectives
for water into which those substances are discharged.

II of

As regards the establishment of programmes, in 1991 the
French Republic communicated a ‘national programme’ com-
prising a series of uncoordinated measures with no objectives
or overall schedule. The ‘sectoral programmes’ contained
therein are in fact no more than a description of the legal
framework applicable (or even just contemplated), resulting
from national legislation relating to facilities classified as being
for the protection of the environment, and do not contain any
specific plans or concrete objectives to reduce pollution by the
dangerous substances referred to in List II or for those of the
99 priority substances relevant in the national context for the

French Republic, or implementation deadlines. The ‘local
recycling programmes for eliminating the main types of
industrial waste’ communicated at the same time are, even
taking into account subsequent exchanges of correspondence,
very imprecise, contain no schedule or timetable, and do not
cover the whole of France.

In relation to the laws and regulations communicated, which
relate to the conditions for being granted prior authorisation
with emission standards, the Commission considers that a
system of prior authorisation in relation to the discharge
of dangerous substances cannot, however indispensable, be
considered to render the programmes referred to in Article 7
of the Directive superfluous.

As regards the quality objectives for water into which the
substances in List II are discharged, throughout their corre-
spondence the authorities in the French Republic manifested
an increasing reluctance to implement such objectives. As for
the only quality objectives
the measures communicated,
referred to in the correspondence from the French Government
relate to water-courses, not to inland water, sea water or near-
shore waters. Furthermore the objectives referred to are too
imprecise to comply with the requirements of Article 7 of the
Directive.

(1) Council Directive 76/464/EEC of 4 May 1976 on pollution cause
by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic
environment of the Community (OJ 1976 L 129 p. 23).

Action brought on 21 March 2001 by the Commission of
the European Communities against the Italian Republic

(Case C-131/01)

(2001/C 150/31)

An action against the Italian Republic was brought before
Court of Justice on 21 March 2001 by the Commission of the
European Communities, represented by Bernard Mongin and
Roberto Amorosi, acting as Agents

The applicant claims that the Court of Justice should:

— Declare that, by keeping in force rules requiring patent
consultants residing in other Member States to be entered
on the Italian register of patent consultants and to have a
residence or professional address in Italy in order to
provide services involving dealings with the Patent Office,
its obligations
the Italian Republic has failed to fulfil
under Articles 49 to 55 of the EC Treaty regarding the
freedom to provide services;