Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 22 December 2022 – European Commission v Kingdom of Spain
(Case C-125/20) 1
(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Environment – Directive 2008/50/EC – Ambiant air quality – Article 13(1) – Annex XI – Systematic and persistent exceedance of the limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in certain Spanish zones and agglomerations – Article 23(1) – Annex XV – Exceedance period to be ‘as short as possible’ – Appropriate measures)
Language of the case: Spanish
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented: initially by A. C. Becker, M. Jauregui Gómez and M. Noll-Ehlers, subsequently by M. Jauregui Gómez and M. Noll-Ehlers, and finally by M. Noll-Ehlers and E. Sanfrutos Cano, acting as Agents)
Defendant: Kingdom of Spain (represented: initially by S. Jiménez García and M. J. Ruiz Sánchez, and subsequently by M. J. Ruiz Sánchez, acting as Agents)
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Declares that the Kingdom of Spain,
– by having failed to ensure (i) that the annual limit value for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was not systematically and persistently exceeded, from 2010 to 2018 inclusive, in the zones ES 0901 Àrea de Barcelona and ES 1301 Madrid and, from 2010 to 2017 inclusive, in the zone ES 0902 Vallès – Baix Llobregat and (ii) that the hourly limit value for NO2 was not systematically and persistently exceeded from 2010 to 2018 inclusive, in the zone ES 1301 Madrid, has failed to fulfil its obligations under the combined provisions of Article 13(1) and of Annex XI to Directive No 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe,
and
– by failing to adopt, as from 11 June 2010, appropriate measures to ensure compliance with the limit values for NO2 in zones ES 0901 Àrea de Barcelona, ES 0902 Vallès – Baix Llobregat and ES 1301 Madrid, has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 23(1) of that directive, read in conjunction with Annex XV thereto, and in particular the obligation to ensure that the air quality plans set out appropriate measures, so that the exceedance period of that limit value could be kept as short as possible;
2. Dismisses the action as to the remainder;
3. Orders the Kingdom of Spain to bear its own costs and to pay nine tenths of the costs incurred by the European Commission;
4. Orders the European Commission to bear one tenth of its own costs.
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1 OJ C 175, 25.5.2020.