CELEX: C2001/348/37
Language: en
Date: 2001-12-08 00:00:00
Title: Case C-419/01: Action brought on 23 October 2001 by the Commission of the European Communities against the Kingdom of Spain

8.12.2001              EN                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                      C 348/21
Action brought on 23 October 2001 by the Commission                     identification cannot be considered valid as it does not meet
of the European Communities against the Kingdom of                      the conditions concerning safety and publication required by
                              Spain                                     Community case-law for the full implementation of directives.
                         (Case C-419/01)                                (1) OJ 1991 L 135, p. 40.
                         (2001/C 348/37)
                                                                        Action brought on 26 October 2001 by the Commission
                                                                        of the European Communities against the Portuguese
An action against the Kingdom of Spain was brought before                                            Republic
the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 23 Octo-
ber 2001 by the Commission of the European Communities,
represented by Gregorio Valero, of its Legal Service, acting as                                  (Case C-425/01)
Agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg at the office
of Luis Escobar Guerrero, also of its Legal Service, Wagner                                      (2001/C 348/38)
Centre.
                                                                        An action against the Portuguese Republic was brought
The applicant claims that the Court should:                             before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on
                                                                        26 October 2001 by the Commission of the European
                                                                        Communities, represented by Horstpeter Kreppel and Miguel
—     Declare that, by having identified sensitive areas in respect     França, acting as Agents, with an address for service in
      of only part of its territory, the Kingdom of Spain has           Luxembourg at the office of Luis Escobar Guerrero, Wagner
      failed to fulfil its obligations under Council Directive          Centre, Kirchberg.
      91/271/EEC of 21 May 1991 concerning urban waste-
      water treatment (1),
                                                                        The applicant claims that the Court should:
—     Order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.                      —      Declare that the Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil
                                                                               its oligations under Articles 4, 10, 11 and 12 of Council
                                                                               Directive 89/391/EEC (1),
                                                                        —      Order the Portuguese Republic to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
                                                                        Pleas in law and main arguments
Article 5(1) of Directive 91/271/EEC provides that Member
States were to identify, by 31 December 1993 sensitive areas            The Portuguese Republic has still not adopted any legislation
according to the criteria laid down in Annex II (freshwater             relating to the procedure for electing workers’ representatives
bodies and coastal waters which are found to be eutrophic or            in health and safety matters at work. The fact that there are no
which in the near future may become eutrophic, nitrate                  workers’ representatives in health and safety matters at the
content of surface freshwater intended for the abstraction of           work place — for lack of legislation governing election
drinking water and water requiring further treatment to fulfil          procedures — makes it impossible for workers to exercise their
other Community directives). The present action concerns                rights in that regard. Contrary to the Portuguese authorities’
only the failure to identify sensitive areas with respect to            contention, if it were not necessary to adopt the legislation
waters for which the Autonomous Communities are respon-                 proper to the implementation of the electoral procedure to
sible: waters relating to intra-community river basins and              enable workers to elect their representatives, the express
coastal waters.                                                         mention made by the Portuguese legislature in Article 23(2)(b)
                                                                        of Decree Law No 441/91 of the need to legislate for that
                                                                        electoral procedure would be entirely redundant.
So far, only the Autonomous Communities of Andalucı́a,
Galicia, Murcia and Cantabria have identified their sensitive           (1) Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduc-
areas in respect of coastal waters, gazetted them and communi-              tion of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and
cated them to the Commission. So far as concerns the river                  health of workers at work (OJ 1989 L 183, p. 1).
basin draining waters only from within the Autonomous
Community of Catalonia, the Commission takes the view that