Action brought on 30 January 2014 – European Parliament v Council of the European Union
(Case C-48/14)
Language of the case: French
Parties
Applicant: European Parliament (represented by: L. Visaggio and J. Rodrigues)
Defendant: Council of the European Union
Form of order sought
annul Council Directive 2013/51/Euratom of 22 October 2013 laying down requirements for the protection of the health of the general public with regard to radioactive substances in water intended for human consumption. 1
order Council of the European Union to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
The Parliament puts forward three pleas in law in support of its action.
In the first place, the Parliament claims that the choice of legal basis made by the Council is mistaken, on the ground that the measures covered by the contested directive fall within the responsibilities of the European Union in the field of the protection of the environment, referred to in Article 192 TFEU. Those measures should therefore have been adopted on the basis of that article, following the ordinary legislative procedure, and not on the basis of Articles 31 and 32 EA.
In the second place, the Parliament claims that the contested directive undermines legal certainty in so far as it establishes rules of review and analysis which duplicate those already in force under Directive 98/83/EC. 2
In the final place, the Parliament considers that by adopting the contested directive, the Council infringed the principle of loyal cooperation between the institutions, referred to in Article 13(2) TEU.
____________1 OJ 2013 L 296, p. 12.
2 Council Directive 98/83/EC of 3 November 1998 on the quality of water intended for human consumption (OJ 1998 L 330, p. 32).