Commission of the European Communities v Hellenic Republic.
Date: 2000-05-25
35 It is to be remembered first of all that, in accordance with settled case-law, the question whether a Member State has failed to fulfil its obligations must be determined by reference to the situation prevailing at the end of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion, and subsequent changes cannot be taken into account by the Court (Case C-214/96 Commission v Spain [1998] ECR I-7661, paragraph 25).
39 It is also to be remembered that the Court has held that the programmes to be established under Article 7 of the Directive must be specific and that the objective of reducing pollution by general purification programmes does not necessarily correspond to the more specific objective of the Directive (Case C-298/95 Commission v Germany [1996] ECR I-6747, paragraphs 22 and 26, Joined Cases C-232/95 and C-233/95 Commission v Greece [1998] ECR I-3343, paragraph 35, and Case C-207/97 Commission v Belgium [1999] ECR I-275, paragraph 39).
40 It is settled case-law that what is specific to the programmes in question is the fact that they must have a comprehensive and coherent approach, covering the entire national territory and providing practical and coordinated arrangements for the reduction of pollution caused by any of the substances in List II which are relevant in the particular context of each Member State, in accordance with the quality objectives fixed by those programmes for the waters affected. They differ, therefore, both from general purification programmes and from bundles of ad hoc measures designed to reduce water pollution (Commission v Belgium, paragraph 40).
41 It should also be noted that the quality objectives fixed by those programmes on the basis of analyses of the waters affected serve as the point of reference for calculating the emission standards set in the prior authorisations, and those programmes must be communicated to the Commission in a form which facilitates comparative appraisal and their harmonised implementation in all the Member States (Commission v Belgium, paragraph 41).
42 While some of the measures referred to by the Greek Government may be capable of contributing to a reduction in water pollution, they are merely ad hoc measures and not comprehensive and coherent programmes for reducing pollution, based on studies of the waters affected and setting quality objectives (Commission v Belgium, paragraph 45).
44 So far as concerns the further claim that, by failing to require discharges which are made into waters and liable to contain any of those substances to be subject to a prior authorisation issued by the competent authority in which emission standards are set on the basis of quality objectives laid down in such programmes, the Hellenic Republic has also failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 7 of the Directive, it is sufficient to note that since programmes as provided for in Article 7(1) have not been established, authorisations cannot have been issued in accordance with Article 7(2) (see Commission v Greece, cited above, paragraphs 27, 28 and 29). That claim therefore becomes devoid of purpose and need not be considered further.