JUDGMENT OF THE COURT of 5 March 2025 in Case E-13/24 – Friends of the Earth Norway and Young Friends of the Earth Norway v The Norwegian Government, represented by the Ministry of Climate and Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (Environment – Directive 2000/60/EC – Framework for action in the field of water policy – Article 4(7)(c) – Reasons of overriding public interest within the meaning of Article 4(7))
Date: 2025-03-05
Institutions: EFTA Court
Subjects: European Economic Area, Norway, economic conditions, job creation, migration for settlement purposes, mineral resources, mining industry, pollution, private sector, services of general interest








C_202503437EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/3437


19.6.2025






JUDGMENT OF THE COURT
of 5 March 2025
         
in Case E-13/24
Friends of the Earth Norway and Young Friends of the Earth Norway v The Norwegian Government, represented by the Ministry of Climate and Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries


(Environment – Directive 2000/60/EC – Framework for action in the field of water policy – Article 4(7)(c) – Reasons of overriding public interest within the meaning of Article 4(7))


(C/2025/3437)

In Case E-13/24, Friends of the Earth Norway and Young Friends of the Earth Norway v The Norwegian Government, represented by the Ministry of Climate and Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries – REQUEST to the Court under Article 34 of the Agreement between the EFTA States on the Establishment of a Surveillance Authority and a Court of Justice by Borgarting Court of Appeal (Borgarting lagmannsrett), concerning the interpretation of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, in particular Article 4(7)(c) thereof, the Court, composed of Páll Hreinsson, President (Judge-Rapporteur), Bernd Hammermann and Michael Reiertsen, Judges, gave judgment on 5 March 2025, the operative part of which is as follows:






1.


Article 4(7)(c) of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy must be interpreted as requiring a weighing of the respective interests in all circumstances in order to determine the existence of an overriding public interest. While no specific qualified preponderance of interest is required for this purpose, it must nonetheless be the case that a concrete assessment must be undertaken, so that the identified overriding public interest justifying the modifications to the physical characteristics of a surface water body outweighs the environmental objective of preventing deterioration in the status of surface water bodies. Which factors will be relevant in determining the existence of an overriding public interest must be assessed on a case-by-case basis.










2.


Income generated as a result of an economic activity, including for employees, shareholders or the EEA State in question via taxes, cannot be considered to constitute an overriding public interest within the meaning of Article 4(7) of Directive 2000/60.










3.


Certain considerations linked to the social and economic situation of a particular area, or the contribution of a project to the security of supply, or the supply, of critical raw materials within the EEA, may be considered to constitute an overriding public interest within the meaning of Article 4(7) of Directive 2000/60, provided that all the other conditions set out therein have been fulfilled.






ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/3437/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)