Case C-396/01: Action brought on 10 October 2001 by the Commission of the European Communities against Ireland
Date: 2001-12-22
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Ireland, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, chemical salt, pollution from agricultural sources, water pollution

C 369/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

22.12.2001

Action brought on 10 October 2001 by the Commission
of the European Communities against Ireland

(Case C-396/01)

(2001/C 369/13)

An action against Ireland was brought before the Court of
Justice of the European Communities on 10 October 2001 by
the Commission of the European Communities, represented
by Mr Richard Wainwright, acting as agent, with an address
for service in Luxembourg.

The Applicant claims that the Court should:

— declare that Ireland has failed to fulfil

its obligations
under Directive 91/676/EEC (1) concerning the protection
of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from
agricultural sources by failing, within the time-limits
provided for in the Directive, to completely identify
waters pursuant to Article 3(1) in accordance with the
criteria set out in Annex I and to notify these to the
Commission, to designate vulnerable zones pursuant to
Article 3(2) and/or 3(4), to establish action programmes
in accordance with Article 5, and to correctly and
completely carry out monitoring and review of waters in
accordance with Article 6(1)(a), (b) and (c);

— order Ireland to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

On the basis of the information available to it, the Commission
considers that Ireland has failed to identify waters in accord-
ance with the criteria of Annex I of the directive. In so far as
Ireland may argue that it has identified waters in accordance
with Article 3(1) of the Directive, the Commission would
contend that Ireland has failed to notify the Commission of
these waters within the time-frame foreseen by Article 12 of
the directive.

For the purposes of designating and revising the designation
of vulnerable zones, Article 6 of the directive requires Member
States to carry out monitoring of nitrate concentrations and to
review the eutrophic state of fresh surface waters, estuarial,
coastal and marine waters, according to specified timetables.
The Commission contends that Ireland has failed in practice
to monitor and review correctly in accordance with Article 6.

(1) Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning
the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from
agricultural sources (OJ L 375, 31.12.1991, p. 1).

Action brought on 15 October 2001 by the Kingdom of
the Netherlands against the Commission of the European
Communities

(Case C-407/01)

(2001/C 369/14)

An action against the Commission of the European Communi-
ties was brought before the Court of Justice of the European
Communities on 15 October 2001 by the Kingdom of the
Netherlands, represented by H.G. van Sevenster and J.S. van
den Oosterkamp, acting as Agents.

The applicant claims that the Court should:

— Annul Commission Regulation (EC) No 1476/2001 of
18 July 2001 amending Regulation (EC) No 1325/2001
as regards safeguard measures with regard to imports
from the overseas countries and territories of mixtures of
sugar and cocoa with ACP/OCT originating status for the
period 1 July to 1 December 2001;

— Order the Commission to pay the costs of the proceed-

ings.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Ireland has not established and applied action programmes
throughout its territory, as it is entitled to do under Article 3(5)
of the directive. Therefore, the exemption, given in Article 3(5),
from the obligation to identify specific vulnerable zones does
not arise. However, Ireland has not designated any vulnerable
zones in accordance with Article 3(2) and/or 3(4).
is
currently the only Member State with a complete absence of
such designations. A corollary of Ireland’s failure to designate
any vulnerable zones is its failure to establish any action
programmes in accordance with Article 5 of the directive.

It

— Connection with Regulation No 1325/2001, the annul-
ment of which is the subject-matter of Case C-325/01 (1).
A ruling that Regulation No 1325/2001 is void will
remove any basis for Regulation No 1476/2001;

— Infringement of Article 109(1) of Council Decision
91/482/EEC on the association of the overseas countries
and territories with the European Economic Community
(‘the OCT Decision’): in so far as the Commission takes