The European Commission building in Brussels.
(illustration) -
LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP
The European Commission has decided to refer France to the EU Court of Justice for "failure to comply with its obligation to protect citizens against poor air quality", according to a statement released Thursday.
Brussels accuses France of "systematic non-compliance" with European rules on pollution by fine particles PM10, the thresholds of which were exceeded "in the areas of Paris and Martinique over a period of, respectively, twelve and fourteen years ".
The European executive had already referred France to justice in 2018 for failing to comply with the limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a polluting gas mainly produced by diesel engines.
The European justice had recognized a year later the “systematic” exceeding of this threshold, opening the way, in a second phase, to possible sanctions.
PM10 fine particles are mainly present in emissions from industry, automobile traffic and home heating, but they are also found in emissions from the agricultural sector.
The Council of State in tune
At the beginning of July, the Council of State had condemned the French government to a historic penalty of 10 million euros per semester of delay if it did not tighten its system against air pollution.
The highest administrative court in the country, which in 2017 ordered the State to implement plans to reduce the levels of PM10 particles and / or nitrogen dioxide, had been seized by associations to find that this injunction no longer exists. had not been followed up.
The government has since issued a decree in September to create "low emission zones" in several towns.
The European Environment Agency estimates that some 400,000 premature deaths can be attributed to air pollution in Europe each year.
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