The Eiffel Tower during a pollution peak in Paris, December 5, 2016 (AFP / Archives / Thomas SAMSON)
The cities of Paris, Brussels and Madrid were dismissed Thursday by the EU justice, in an action against a 2016 European regulation accused of being too flexible on certain polluting emissions from cars.
The judgment delivered by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), established in Luxembourg, overturns a first decision of the General Court of the EU which had won the case at the end of 2018 to these large metropolises fighting against automobile pollution.
The three cities are rejected for legal reasons. They attacked a European text on nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission standards which in reality does not prevent them from taking measures to limit pollution on their territory, the Court was told.
In the wake of the “Dieselgate”, a vast scandal over the rigged engines of the German manufacturer Volkswagen which had erupted in the fall of 2015, the European Commission had to undergo a sling on a modification, considered too favorable to industrialists, of its regulations on polluting emissions from light vehicles.
The cities of Paris, Brussels and Madrid had decided to take legal action against the new “Euro 6” regulation, considering that it “would prevent them from imposing traffic restrictions on private vehicles with regard to their polluting emissions”, recalls the CJEU in a press release.
In May 2018, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo came in person to the General Court of the EU to denounce a “permit to pollute”, in reference to the margin of tolerance granted to manufacturers on NOx emissions during road tests ( before the new cars are marketed).
Seven months later, the General Court annulled the provision of the “Euro 6” regulation fixing the acceptable level of these emissions.
Thursday, the CJEU decided to reconsider this “partial cancellation”, which is found invalidated for legal reasons.
“The General Court erred in law in ruling that the contested regulation directly concerns the applicant cities”, writes the Court in its press release.
Clearly, this European regulation regulates the conditions of registration and marketing of new cars in the 27 countries of the EU, and must not prevent “certain local traffic restrictions which aim, in particular, to protect the environment. “.
The action of the three metropolises is inadmissible because, as argued by the European Commission, they are “not directly concerned” by this regulatory act, insists the CJEU.
In addition to the Commission, two EU countries, Germany and Hungary, appealed against the first instance decision in December 2018.
© 2022 AFP
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