CELEX: C1997/040/24
Language: en
Date: 1997-02-08 00:00:00
Title: Appeal brought on 4 December 1996 by Compagnie Continentale (France) against the judgment delivered on 24 September 1996 by the Third Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities in Case T-494/93 between Compagnie Continentale (France) and the Commission of the European Communities (Case C-391/96 P)

No C 40/ 12            1 EN                   Official Journal of the European Communities                                          8 . 2 . 97
      automatically and without the institution of default               The applicant claims that the Court should :
     proceedings, begins to accrue as soon as the statutory
      time-limit for reimbursement has expired ?
                                                                         — declare that, by failing to adopt all the necessary
                                                                               measures to ensure the correct transposition of
(') OJ No L 145 , 13 . 6 . 1977, p . 2 .                                       Council Directive 85/337/EEC (') of 27 June 1985 on
                                                                               the assessment of the effects of certain public and
                                                                               private projects on the environment, Ireland has failed
                                                                               to fulfil its obligations under that Directive and in
                                                                               particular Article 12 thereof and under the Treaty,
Appeal brought on 4 December 1996 by Compagnie
                                                                         — order Ireland to pay the costs .
Continentale (France) against the judgment delivered on
24 September 1996 by the Third Chamber of the Court of
First Instance of the European Communities in Case T­                    Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:
494/93 between Compagnie Continentale (France ) and the
          Commission of the European Communities
                                                                         Article 4 (2) of the Directive and Annex II
                         ( Case C-391 /96 P
                              ( 97/C 40/24 )                             In establishing criteria/thresholds for determining whether
                                                                         or not an environmental impact assessment ('EIA') is
An appeal against the judgment delivered on 24 September                 required for an individual project in project classes
                                                                         Annex II . 1 ( b ) ('projects for the use of uncultivated land
1996 by the Third Chamber of the Court of First Instance
                                                                         or semi-natural areas for intensive agriculture'), Annex
of the European Communities in Case T-494/93 between
                                                                         II . 2 ( a ) (' extration of peat') and Annex II . 1 ( d ) (' initial
Compagnie Continentale ( France ) and the Commission of
the European Communities was brought before the Court                    afforestation where this may lead to adverse ecological
                                                                         changes and land reclamation for the purposes of
of Justice of the European Communities on 4 December
                                                                         conversion to another type of land use '), there is a
1996 by Compagnie Continentale ( France ), represented by
                                                                         particular need to ensure that areas of importance for
Patrick Chabrier, of 15 Rue Toepffer, Geneva .
                                                                         nature conservation are satisfactorily taken into account .
                                                                         The Commission would contend that, globally considered,
The appellant claims that the Court should :                             the Irish system of thresholds for these project classes does
                                                                         not satisfactorily take such areas into account for a
— set aside the judgment of 24 September 1996 declaring                  number of reasons .
      Compagnie Continentale's action for annullment of
      the Commission's decision of 1 April 1992                          First, the thresholds draw no distinction between areas
      inadmissible ,
                                                                         which have recognized importance and value for nature
                                                                         conservation and areas which do not .
— order the Commission to pay the costs .
                                                                         Second, the thresholds do not take account of the fact that
Pleas in law and main arguments adduced in support:                      areas of importance and value for nature conservation will
                                                                         often be relatively small in relation to the thresholds .
The pleas in law and main arguments are the same as
those in Case C-386/96 P (').
                                                                         Third, the thresholds do not take into account the absence
                                                                         in Ireland of other mechanisms which might obviate the
 (') See p. 10 of this Official Journal .                                need for an EIA .
                                                                         Fourth, the thresholds fail to take any or any adequate
                                                                          account of the fact that, incrementally or cumulatively,
                                                                         projects of these classes may create significant
                                                                         environmental effects .
Action brought on 5 December 1996 by the Commission
         of the European Communities against Ireland
                           ( Case C-392/96 )                              Article 2 (3): Exemptions
                               ( 97/C 40/25 )
                                                                          Irish legislation provides for an exemption formula
                                                                          entitling the Minister with powers under the relevant
 An action against Ireland was brought before the Court of                enactment to dispense with the requirement of an EIA
Justice of the European Communities on 5 December                         where he is satisfied that this is warranted by exceptional
 1996 by the Commission of the European Communities,                      circumstances . This exemption formula does not oblige
 represented by Mr Richard Wainwright, principal legal                    the Minister concerned to consider whether another form
 adviser, acting as Agent, with an address for service in                 of assessment would be appropriate and whether the
 Luxembourg at the office of Mr Carlos Gomez de la Cruz,                  information thus collected should be made available to the
 member of the Legal Service , Centre Wagner.                             public, as stipulated under Article 2 ( 3 ) ( a ) and ( b ) of the