Air Pollution as a Whole: The Court of Justice Strengthens Environmental Standards in the Ambient Air Quality Directive over Contrasting Industrial Emissions Directive Derogations
BRUNO, Walter
2024 • In European Journal of Risk Regulation, 15 (2), p. 465-471
Air pollution; air quality plans; best available techniques; causal link; environmental standards; Industrial Emissions Directive derogations; preliminary ruling; strategic litigation in EU environmental law; Safety Research; Law
Résumé :
[en] On 9 March 2023, the Court of Justice (Second Chamber) delivered a preliminary ruling about the coordination of two European Union measures against air pollution: the Industrial Emissions Directive and the Ambient Air Quality Directive. Upon assessment, the Court reinforced the mandatory nature of the air quality limit values vis-à-vis possible derogations foreseen in the Industrial Emissions Directive. In this case, both AG Kokott and the Second Chamber affirmed the primacy of the air quality standards. However, this Case Note finds that slightly different reasoning between the AG Opinion and the final Judgment reveals differing underlying approaches. Whilst the AG focuses on air quality plans and leaves more room for discretion to national authorities, the final Judgment anchors the coordination of the two Directives to strict and objective pollution limit values, further strengthening the Ambient Air Quality Directive as an effective instrument of environmental protection litigation.
Disciplines :
Droit européen & international
Auteur, co-auteur :
BRUNO, Walter ; University of Luxembourg > Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL) > LCEL Research
Co-auteurs externes :
no
Langue du document :
Anglais
Titre :
Air Pollution as a Whole: The Court of Justice Strengthens Environmental Standards in the Ambient Air Quality Directive over Contrasting Industrial Emissions Directive Derogations
Date de publication/diffusion :
2024
Titre du périodique :
European Journal of Risk Regulation
ISSN :
1867-299X
Maison d'édition :
Cambridge University Press
Volume/Tome :
15
Fascicule/Saison :
2
Pagination :
465-471
Peer reviewed :
Peer reviewed vérifié par ORBi
Focus Area :
Law / European Law
Objectif de développement durable (ODD) :
11. Villes et communautés durables 13. Mesures relatives à la lutte contre les changements climatiques
1 Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions (integrated pollution prevention and control), OJ L 334, 17.12.2010, pp 17–119, hereafter also “Industrial Emissions Directive” or “IED”.
2 Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, OJ L 152, 11.6.2008, pp 1–44, hereafter also “Ambient Air Quality Directive” or “AAQD”.
3 Art 3(4) of the IED.
4 A substance being “any chemical element and its compounds” according to Art 3(1) of the IED, and with the exception hereby affirmed.
5 For the definition of “emission limit value” under the IED, see its Art 3(5), which reads “the mass, expressed in terms of certain specific parameters, concentration and/or level of an emission, which may not be exceeded during one or more periods of time”.
6 Recital (12) of the IED.
7 See Art 3(10) of the IED.
8 Art 2(3) of the AAQD.
9 Art 1(1) of the AAQD.
10 Art 2(5) of the AAQD.
11 G Van Calster and L Reins, EU Environmental Law (Northampton, MA, Edward Elgar Publishing 2017) p 244.
12 Art 23(1) of the AAQD.
13 Case C-730/19, European Commission v. Republic of Bulgaria “Limit values SO2” [2022] ECLI:EU:C:2022:382.
14 The emission limit values under the IED differ from the limit values under the AAQD, the latter of which being parameterised on concentration in the ambient air. See Art 3(5) of the IED and Art 2(5) of the AAQD.
15 AG Opinion, paras 30 and 41. For an exhaustive reference to the BATs applicable to large combustion plants, as well as other regulated sources of pollution, see the relevant BAT Reference document (BREF) by the Joint Research Centre and the BAT Conclusions by the European Commission, regularly updated and available on the website of the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (EIPPCB) at (last accessed 31 January 2024).
16 Judgment paras, 22–33 and AG Opinion, paras 21–31.
17 See AG Opinion, para 43.
18 Emphasis added.
19 See Art 23 of the AAQD.
20 AG Opinion, paras 51 et sqq.
21 AG Opinion, paras 60 et sqq.
22 AG Opinion, para 62.
23 AG Opinion, para 63.
24 AG Opinion, paras 81–90.
25 C-730/19, Commission v. Bulgaria, supra, note 13.
26 Judgment, para 52.
27 Judgment, para 54 (emphasis added).
28 Judgment, para 62.
29 Judgment, para 63.
30 D Langlet and S Mahmoudi, EU Environmental Law and Policy (Oxford, Oxford University Press 2016) p 200. The so-called “Sevilla process” elaborating BAT standards is debated in the literature. For even more critical remarks, see A Zeri, “Deconstructing the Industrial Emissions Directive’s (2010/75/EU) regulatory standards: a tale of cautious optimism” (2013) 2(1) UCL Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 187.
31 J Sanden, “Coherence in European Environmental Law with Particular Regard to the Industrial Emissions Directive” (2012) 21(5) European Energy and Environmental Law Review 232–35. This author has already highlighted possible threats to a coherent IED enforcement with regards to the combined application of the IED with the Water Framework Directive.
32 AG Opinion, para 67.
33 C-730/19, Commission v. Bulgaria, supra, note 13.
34 Case C-752/18, Deutsche Umwelthilfe eV v Freistaat Bayern [2019] ECLI:EU:C:2019:1114.
35 B Hess and W Bruno, “Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Grand Chamber) of 19 December 2019, Deutsche UmWelthilfe eV v Freistaat Bayern, C-752/18” in D Sarmiento, H Ruiz Fabri and B Hess (eds), Yearbook on Procedural Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union – 2021 (3rd edition, MPILux Research Paper Series 2022 (5)) (last accessed 3 December 2023).
36 See Judgment, para 67.
37 Case C-237/07, Dieter Janecek v Freistaat Bayern, [2008] ECLI:EU:C:2008:447.
38 Van Calster and Reins, supra, note 11, 245.
39 K Pedrosa and B Vanheusden, “EU Air Pollution Law: Comprehensive but Insufficient” in M Peeters and M Eliantonio (eds), Research Handbook on EU Environmental Law (Cheltenham, Edward Elgar 2020) p 311.
40 M Clément, Droit Européen de L’Environnement: Jurisprudence Commentée (Brussels, Bruylant 2021) p 399.
