Case C-508/03: Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of  4 May 2006  — Commission of the European Communities v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Admissibility — Subject-matter of the case — Jurisdiction of national courts — Action devoid of purpose — Legal certainty and legitimate expectations of developers — Directive 85/337/EEC — Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment — White City development project — Crystal Palace development project — Projects falling within Annex II to Directive 85/337 — Obligation to assess projects likely to have significant effects on the environment — Burden of proof — Transposition of Directive 85/337 into national law — Grant of consent comprising more than one stage)
Date: 2006-07-15
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: European Commission, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, environmental impact, environmental protection, impact study, town planning

15.7.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 165/3

Defendant: Ireland (represented by: R. Brady and D. O'Hagan,
Agents, and by P. Sreenan and E. Fitzsimons, SC, P. Sands QC,
and N. Hyland, BL)

Defendant: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland (represented by: K. Manji, acting as Agent, D. Elvin QC
and J. Maurici, Barrister)

Intervener in support of the defendant: Kingdom of Sweden (repre-
sented by: K. Wistrand, Agent)

Re:

Re:

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Bringing of an
action by Ireland against the United Kingdom before the Arbi-
tral Tribunal established under the United Nations Convention
on the Law of the Sea — Infringement of the exclusive jurisdic-
tion of the European Court of Justice — Breach of the duty of
cooperation

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Declares that, by instituting dispute-settlement proceedings against
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland under
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea concerning
the MOX plant located at Sellafield (United Kingdom), Ireland
has failed to fulfil
its obligations under Articles 10 EC and
292 EC and under Articles 192 EA and 193 EA;

2. Orders Ireland to pay the costs;

3. Orders

the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland and the Kingdom of Sweden to bear their own respective
costs.

(1) OJ C 7, 10.01.2004.

Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 4 May 2006 —
the European Communities v United
Commission of

Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

(Case C-508/03) (1)

of

expectations

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Admissi-
bility — Subject-matter of the case — Jurisdiction of national
courts — Action devoid of purpose — Legal certainty and
developers — Directive
legitimate
85/337/EEC — Assessment of the effects of certain projects
on the environment — White City development project —
Crystal Palace development project — Projects falling within
Annex II to Directive 85/337 — Obligation to assess projects
likely to have significant effects on the environment —
Burden of proof — Transposition of Directive 85/337 into
national law — Grant of consent comprising more than one
stage)

(2006/C 165/05)

Language of the case: English

Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Incorrect
implementation of Articles 2(1), 4(2), 5(2) and 8 of Council
Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of
the effects of certain public and private projects on the environ-
ment — Failure to carry out an impact assessment in respect of
urban development projects at White City and Crystal Palace

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1. Declares that the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Community law by
incorrectly transposing into domestic law Articles 2(1) and 4(2) of
Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assess-
ment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the
environment, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3
March 1997, as a result of the national rules under which, in the
case of outline planning permission with a requirement of subse-
quent approval of the reserved matters, an assessment may be
carried out only at the initial stage of granting such permission,
and not at the later reserved matters stage;

2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;

3. Orders the Commission of the European Communities and the

United Kingdom to bear their own costs.

(1) OJ C 47, 21.2.2004.

Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 4 May 2006
— Commission of the European Communities v United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

(Case C-98/04) (1)

(Failure to fulfil obligations — Directive 85/337/EEC —
Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environ-
ment — Project carried out without prior application for
development consent or assessment — Action inadmissible)

(2006/C 165/06)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Parties

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: F. Simonetti and X. Lewis, Agents)

Applicant: Commission of the European Communities (repre-
sented by: M. Shotter and F. Simonetti, Agents)