Action brought on 3 May 2024 – European Commission v Kingdom of Spain
(Case C-331/24)
Language of the case: Spanish
Parties
Applicant: European Commission (represented by: N. Ruiz García and E. Sanfrutos Cano, acting as Agents)
Defendant: Kingdom of Spain
Form of order sought
The applicant claims that the Court should:
declare that the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 13(7) and Article 15(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, 1 as regards the river basin management plans for river basin districts ES122 Fuerteventura, ES123 Lanzarote and ES125 La Palma;
declare that the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 14(3) and Article 15(1) of Directive 2007/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2007 on the assessment and management of flood risks, 1 as regards the flood risk management plans for river basin districts ES122 Fuerteventura, ES123 Lanzarote and ES125 La Palma; and
order the Kingdom of Spain to pay the costs.
Pleas in law and main arguments
In the first place, the Commission claims that, since Spain has neither reviewed nor updated the river basin management plans for river basin districts ES122 Fuerteventura, ES123 Lanzarote and ES125 La Palma, even though the time limit for doing so expired on 22 December 2021, and therefore nor did it send those reviewed plans to the Commission by 22 March 2022, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil the obligations established in Articles 13(7) and 15(1) of Directive 2000/60/EC.
In the second place, the Commission claims that, since Spain has not reviewed and, if necessary, updated the flood risk management plans for river basin districts ES122 Fuerteventura, ES123 Lanzarote and ES125 La Palma, even though the time limit for doing so expired on 22 December 2021, and therefore nor did it send those plans to the Commission by 22 March 2022, the Kingdom of Spain has failed to fulfil the obligations established in Articles 14(3) and 15(1) of Directive 2007/60/EC.
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1 OJ 2000 L 327, p. 1.
1 OJ 2007 L 288, p. 27.