Case C-166/25: Action brought on 27 February 2025 – European Commission v Portuguese Republic
Date: 2025-02-27
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: air quality, environmental monitoring, environmental protection, industrial pollution, infringement of EU law, national implementing measure, pollution control, prevention of pollution, waste incineration, wastewater








C_202502065EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/2065


14.4.2025






Action brought on 27 February 2025 – European Commission v Portuguese Republic


(Case C-166/25)

(C/2025/2065)
Language of the case: Portuguese

Parties


Applicant: European Commission (represented by: J. Jokubauskaitė and L. Santiago de Albuquerque, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Portuguese Republic

Form of order sought







—


Declare that the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010
                   (1) on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), in so far as it did not transpose, correctly or completely, Article 3(18), Article 7(a) and (c), Article 8(2)(a) and (c), Article 17(1), the second subparagraph of Article 21(2), Article 26(4), Article 45(1)(d) and (2), the second subparagraph of Article 46(4), Article 57(1), or point 1.3 of Part 8 of Annex VI to that directive in conjunction with Article 49 thereof;










—


order Portuguese Republic to pay the costs.





Pleas in law and main arguments

The Portuguese Republic claims that it transposed Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council into the Portuguese legal system through Decreto-Lei (Decree-Law) No 127/2013 of 30 August 2013. (2) However, it did not transpose, correctly or completely, the following articles of Directive 2010/75/EU into that system:






(1)


Article 3(18), in so far as the rule in Decree-Law No 127/2013 transposing that provision is vitiated by an incorrect reference that has never been corrected;










(2)


Article 7(a) and (c) and Article 8(2)(a) and (c), in so far as the rules laid down in Decree-Law No 127/2013 transposing those provisions provide for a period of 48 hours for the operator to inform the competent authority, whereas the provisions of that directive stipulate that the operator must inform the competent authority immediately;










(3)


Article 17(1), in so far as the rule laid down in Decree-Law No 127/201[3] transposing that provision, and contrary thereto, does not require that, in a situation where general binding rules are adopted, an integrated approach and a high level of environmental protection equivalent to that achievable with individual permit conditions are ensured;










(4)


Article 21(2), in so far as, contrary to what that provision requires, Decree-Law No 127/2013 does not require the competent authority, when it re-examines the licensing conditions, to use all the information resulting from the monitoring or the inspections;










(5)


Article 26(4), in so far as the rule in Decree-Law No 127/2013 transposing that provision does not require the competent Portuguese authority, when it consults another Member State, to provide the latter with all the information listed in that provision, but only part of that information;










(6)


Article 45(1)(d) and (2), in so far as, contrary to what those provisions require, Decree-Law No 127/2013 does not ensure that a licence granted to a waste incineration plant or a waste co-incineration plant includes the requirements for the pH, temperature and flow of waste water discharges, nor does it include a list of the quantities of the various categories of hazardous waste which may be treated, the minimum and maximum mass flows and the lowest and maximum calorific value of such hazardous wastes, or their maximum contents of certain polluting substances;










(7)


The second subparagraph of Article 46(4), in so far as, contrary to what that provision requires, the rule in Decree-Law No 127/2013 transposing that provision does not ensure that, in the control of emissions in discharges of waste water, the results of all the measurements set out in point 3 of Part 6 of Annex VI to Directive 2010/75/EU are used;










(8)


Article 57(1), in so far as the rule in Decree-Law No 127/2013 transposing that provision uses reference dates that do not correspond to the reference dates laid down in that provision;










(9)


Point 1.3 of Part 8 of Annex VI, in conjunction with Article 49, in so far as, contrary to what that provision requires, the rule in Decree-Law No 127/2013 transposing that provision does not ensure that, in the assessment of compliance with emission limit values for air and water, Articles 45(1)(e) and 48(3) of Directive 2010/75/EU are taken into account.






(1)  
            OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, pp. 17-119


(2)  Diário da República No 167/2013, Series I of 30 August 2013, pp. 5324-5389


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/2065/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)