Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 21 June 2018.European Commission v Federal Republic of Germany.Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 91/676/EEC — Article 5(5) and (7) — Annex II, A, points 1 to 3 and 5 — Annex III(1), points 1 to 3, and (2) — Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources — Inadequacy of measures in force — Supplemental or enhanced measures — Review of the action programme — Limitation of land application — Balanced fertilisation — Periods of land application — Capacity of tanks for storing manure — Land application on steeply-sloping surfaces and on frozen or snow-covered land.Case C-543/16.

Judgment // 21/06/2018 // 4 min read
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Judgment of the Court (Ninth Chamber) of 21 June 2018 — Commission v Germany

(Case C‑543/16) ( 1 )

(Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations — Directive 91/676/EEC — Article 5 (5) and (7) — Annex II, A, points 1 to 3 and 5 — Annex III(1), points 1 to 3, and (2) — Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources — Inadequacy of measures in force — Supplemental or enhanced measures — Review of the action programme — Limitation of land application — Balanced fertilisation — Periods of land application — Capacity of tanks for storing manure — Land application on steeply-sloping surfaces and on frozen or snow-covered land)

  1. Environment—Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources—Directive 91/676—Implementation of action programmes in respect of vulnerable zones—Obligation of the Member States to adopt any additional measures necessary to achieve the objective laid down in the directive—Obligation to implement them as of the start of the first action programme or as of the point at which it first becomes clear they are necessary—Assessment of the inadequacy of the measures in force—Criteria

(Council Directive 91/676, Arts 1, 3 (1), [5](https://case-trace.com/x/eurlex/31991L0676#article-5) (4), [5](https://case-trace.com/x/eurlex/31991L0676#article-5) and 7, and 10 and Annexes I, A, points 2 and 3, and V(4) (e))

(see paras 51-53, 60, 61, 63, 64, 66-68)

  1. Actions for failure to fulfil obligations—Examination of the merits by the Court—Situation to be taken into consideration—Situation on expiry of the period laid down in the reasoned opinion

(see para. 70)

  1. Environment—Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources—Directive 91/676—Implementation of action programmes in respect of vulnerable zones—Mandatory measures for limiting the land application of fertilisers—Taking account of the balance between the foreseeable nitrogen requirements of the crops and nitrogen supplied to the crops from the soil and by fertilisers—Amount of nitrogen authorised by national legislation determined on the basis of the need for fertiliser and the nutrient balance—Failure to fulfil obligations

(Council Directive 91/676, Art. 5(4) and Annexe III(1), point 3)

(see paras 87-94)

  1. Environment—Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources—Directive 91/676—Obligation of the Member States to establish codes of conduct for agricultural practices and action plans applicable to vulnerable zones—Rules relating to the periods during which it is prohibited to spread any type of fertiliser—National legislation providing for derogations from those rules in terms not provided for in the directive—Failure to fulfil obligations

(Council Directive 91/676, Recital 11, Arts 2(e), 4(1) and 5 and Annexes II, A, point 1 and III, (1), point 1)

(see paras103-105, 107, 120, 135)

  1. Environment—Protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources—Directive 91/676—Obligation of the Member States to establish codes of conduct for agricultural practices and action plans applicable to vulnerable zones—Rules concerning the capacity and the construction of tanks for storing manure—Rules concerning the use of certain substances on steeply-sloping surfaces and on frozen or snow-covered land—Clear and precise transportation obligation on the basis of objective criteria—Failure to fulfil obligations

(Council Directive 91/676, Arts 4 (1) and 5 (4) and Annexes II, A, points 2 and 5, and III, (1) points 2 and 3(a), and (2))

(see paras 111, 128-133, 153, 164, 166, 172)

  1. Member States—Obligations—Implementation of directives—Failure to fulfil obligations—National system pleaded as justification—Not permissible

(see para. 114)

  1. Acts of the institutions—Directives—Implementation by Member States—Need for clear and precise transposition—Technical rules in the area of the environment

(Council Directive 91/676)

(see paras 145, 157, 164)

Operative part

The Court:

  1. Declares that, by failing to adopt supplemental or enhanced measures as soon as it became apparent that the measures of the German action programme were inadequate and by failing to review that action programme, the Federal Republic of Germany failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 5(5) and (7) of Council Directive 91/676/EEC of 12 December 1991 concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1137/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2008, read in conjunction with Annex II, A, points 1 to 3 and 5, and Annex III(1), points 1 to 3, and (2) to that directive;

  2. Orders the Federal Republic of Germany to pay the costs.

( 1 ) OJ C 6, 9.1.2017.

Environment