The European Union court dismissed the appeal of French fishermen, who tried to assert the risks for their activity linked to the construction of six wind farms at sea. In 2011 and 2013, France launched appeals for offers for the construction of six wind farms in the English Channel and the Atlantic, within maritime zones operated by Breton fleets.

Drilling work has started in the bay of Saint-Brieuc.

The construction and operation projects - lasting twenty-five years - of these parks are subsidized in the form of an obligation to purchase electricity at a rate higher than the market price, the additional cost being entirely compensated by the state.

The applicants, in particular Norman and Breton, were taken by the Cooperative of associated artisans fishermen (Capa).

They challenged a July 2019 decision of the European Commission, which considered that this state aid was compatible with the internal market and therefore raised no objection.

"No consideration" for the marine environment

The EU tribunal, competent for appeals from individuals or from a Member State against Commission decisions, considers that "the fishermen have not demonstrated the risk of a concrete impact of the disputed aid on their situation" , according to the ruling on Wednesday. The European judge considers that fishermen are not, as they claim, in "indirect competition" with the operators of offshore wind farms, insofar as they do not exploit the same "raw material": the fishery resource for the former and the kinetic resource of the wind for the latter.

Moreover, without excluding "in principle that aid concretely affects the interests of third parties", the court considers that the fishermen have not provided proof that these possible impacts "result from the aid itself".

For Olivier Becquet, director of the CAPA, based in Tréport (Seine-Maritime), this appeal “could be successful, provided that there is consideration for certain activities in the marine environment.

But the court (…) has no consideration ”.

A step in the struggle of the fishermen

Fishing “depends on the good biological state of the marine environment. If this state is not maintained, where are we going ", he wondered, citing the example of the Thanet offshore wind farm in Kent (Great Britain), which resulted in" a catastrophic situation for the environment. There is no more fishing, no more reproduction of the resource there, ”said Olivier Becquet.

“If the tribunal had a maritime dimension, I believe it would have an interest for the fishermen.

But the court does not eat fish, therefore, it does not feel concerned ", estimated the director of Capa for whom this decision is only" a step "in the fight against offshore wind on the coast. French.

In France, coastal fishermen are very mobilized against offshore wind turbine projects, believing that both the construction sites and their presence will disrupt the local ecosystem and reduce the quality of the resource.

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