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The two complainants lived near the Paris ring road during the severe pollution spike of December 2016. PHILIPPE LOPEZ / AFP

The Montreuil administrative court recognized Tuesday, June 25 a "fault" of the state in its policy to fight against air pollution. The decision can be used as a precedent.

" The State has been guilty of a lack of action taken in the field of air quality to remedy the overrun, between 2021 and 2016, in the Ile-de-France region, concentration limit values ​​of some gaseous pollutants, "explained in a statement the administrative court of Montreuil, near Paris.

This decision follows the complaint of a mother and her daughter suffering from respiratory problems - repeated bronchitis, asthma attacks - "accentuated" during peaks of pollution. At the time, they lived in Saint-Ouen, north of Paris, near the ring road that surrounds the capital. They have since moved to Orléans, in central France, and their condition has improved.

Supported by the associations, they had assigned the state for "misconduct". In their view, the authorities had not taken " effective " measures to reduce air pollution, especially during the severe pollution spike of December 2016. They claimed 160,000 euros in damages.

This claim was rejected, as the causal link between the state's failures in pollution control and their respiratory problems was not " directly " established. The court recognizes, however, that the state has not done enough to ensure healthy air to the people of the Paris region. " The concentration thresholds of certain polluting gases were repeatedly exceeded between 2012 and 2016 in the Ile de France region, " he said in his judgment. " It concludes that the plan relating to air quality for Ile-de-France (...) and its conditions of implementation, are insufficient in terms of obligations " in particular set by European directives and transposed in the Code of the environment.

The two women's lawyer welcomed the decision. " For the victims of pollution, it's a first, " he said to Agence France-Presse. " From now on, the state will have to take effective measures in the fight against pollution and the victims can hope for recognition of their harm, " he continued. Thirty-nine other similar cases are indeed under investigation in the French courts. Three will be judged this Thursday in Paris.

(With AFP)