Action brought on 23 October 2018 – European Commission v United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
(Case C-664/18)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: J. Norris-Usher, K. Petersen, Agents)
Defendant: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The applicant claims that the Court should:
declare that: in continuing to exceed the annual limit values for NO2 in zones UK0001 (Greater London Urban Area); UK0002 (West Midlands Urban Area); UK0003 (Greater Manchester Urban Area); UK 0004 (West Yorkshire Urban Area); UK 0013 (Teesside Urban Area); UK0014 (The Potteries); UK0018 (Kingston upon Hull); UK0019 (Southampton Urban Area); UK0024 (Glasgow Urban Area); UK0029 (Eastern); UK0031 (South East); UK0032 (East Midlands); UK0033 (North West & Merseyside); UK0034 (Yorkshire & Humberside); UK0035 (West Midlands) and UK0036 (North East) as well as with the hourly limit values for NO2 in zone UK0001 (Greater London Urban Area) since the entry in to force on those limit values on 1 January 2010 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to comply with Article 13 (1) of Directive 2008/50/EC1 in conjunction with Annex XI of the Directive;
declare that: since 11 June 2010, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 23 (1) of Directive 2008/50/EC in conjunction with Annex XV of the Directive with regard to the above-mentioned zones and in particular the obligation under subparagraph 2 of Article 23 (1) to keep the exceedance period as short as possible;
order the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
Since 2010, the annual limits for NO2 have been exceeded in 16 zones and agglomerations and the hourly limits have been exceeded in one zone. These exceedances amount in and of themselves to a violation of Article 13 (1) of Directive 2008/50/EC of 21 May 20081 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, read in conjunction with annex XI of the same Directive.
Despite this persistent violation of Article 13 (1) read in conjunction with annex XI, of the Directive, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has failed to adopt air quality plans which set out appropriate measures so that the exceedance period can be kept as short as possible. The insufficiency of the measures foreseen by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is evidenced by the duration of the period in which the limit values have been exceeded, the magnitude of the exceedances and the compliance trend, as well as a detailed analysis of each of the respective air quality plans pertaining to the 16 zones and agglomerations which are the object of the present application.
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1 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 2008, L 152, p. 1).