Judgment of the General Court of 31 January 2024 – Symphony Environmental Technologies and Symphony Environmental v Parliament and Others
(Case T-745/20) 1
(Non-contractual liability – Environment – Directive (EU) 2019/904 – Prohibition on the placing on the market of products made from oxo-degradable plastic – Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals – No distinction between products made from oxo-degradable plastic and products made from oxo-biodegradable plastic – Impact assessment – Equal treatment – Proportionality)
Language of the case: English
Parties
Applicants: Symphony Environmental Technologies plc (Borehamwood, United Kingdom), Symphony Environmental Ltd (Borehamwood) (represented by: P. Selley, Solicitor, J. Holmes King’s Counsel, and J. Williams, Barrister-at-law)
Defendants: European Parliament (represented by: L. Visaggio, C. Ionescu Dima and W. Kuzmienko, Agents), Council of the European Union (represented by: A. Maceroni and M. Moore, Agents), European Commission (represented by: R. Lindenthal and L. Haasbeek Agents)
Re:
By their action based on Article 268 TFEU, the applicants seek compensation for the damage that they claim to have suffered as a result of the adoption of Article 5 and recital 15 of Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (OJ 2019 L 155, p. 1), in so far as the prohibition on the placing on the market of products made from oxo-degradable plastic laid down in Article 5 and recital 15 applies to oxo-biodegradable plastic.
Operative part of the judgment
The Court:
Dismisses the action;;
Orders Symphony Environmental Technologies plc and Symphony Environmental Ltd to pay the costs.
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1 OJ C 53, 15.2.2021.