EEL News Service 2004/20, 11 November 2004

Added to the Case law page:

* C-406/03 Commission v Ireland
ECJ 26 October 2004, nyr
The ECJ confirmed that Ireland failed to implement EU control mechanisms on ozone-depleting substances (ODSs), required by Regulation No 2037/2000. Ireland had not provided details of the amounts of ODSs recovered, recycled and destroyed, nor had it taken precautionary measures to minimise releases of methyl bromide.

* C-185/02 Commission v Portugal
ECJ 28 October 2004, nyr, not yet available in English
Portugal partially failed to implement Directive 96/59/EC on PCBs. The Commission’s complaint that an inventory of PCB-containing equipment was incomplete was rejected by the ECJ because of a lack of evidence.

* C-505/03 Commission v France
ECJ 28 October 2004, nyr, not yet available in English
The ECJ found France guilty of breaching Directive 80/778/EEC on drinking water quality by failing to control nitrates levels in the province of Brittany.

* C-421/03 Commission v Austria
ECJ 28 October 2004, nyr, not yet available in English
Austria did not transpose Directive 2001/18/EC, the 2001 revision of Directive 90/220/EEC on deliberate release of GMOs.

* C-92/02 Commission v Austria & C-15/03 Commission v Portugal
Opinion of 28 October 2004, not yet available in English
Advocate general Antonio Tizzano recommended that both Portugal and Austria be condemned for failing to prioritize regeneration when treating waste oils under Directive 75/439/EEC on waste oil treatment.

*C-443/02 Schreiber
ECJ 15 July 2004, nyr.
Preliminary questions in relation to article 2,3,4 and 16 of Directive 98/8/EC concerning the placing of biocidal products (i.e. non-agriculture pesticides) on the market lead to the conclusion that Member States are allowed to use their own authorisation system for a substance that is a biocidal product. It is not relevant whether this substance is placed on the market in other member states without prior authorisation. This does form a measure of equivalent effect under Article 28 EC, justified on ground of the protection of public health under Article 30 EC.

Added to Conferences page and upcoming conferences:

* 9 November 2004, 25th anniversary of the European Birds Directive, Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands

* 10-12 November 2004, The power of inland navigation, Scheveningen, the Netherlands.

* 22 November 2004, Post-2012 climate policy for the EU, Brussels, Belgium

* 7 December 2004, Handel in emissierechten (Trade in emissions rights), Amsterdam, the Netherlands

* 12-14 December 2004, Energy for Development, Noordwijk in the Netherlands

* 20-21 January 2005, Financial compensation for victims of catastrophes: a comparative legal approach, Maastricht, the Netherlands

Added to Dossiers page:

* Introduction to European environmental law, by Wybe Douma
Estonian version of this dossier, translated by Meelis Leesik.

* Update of the Environmental liability Dossier, by Daria Ratsiborinskaya
Definition of environmental liability

* The Lisbon Strategy and the Environment, by Pamela van der Goot
A new Dutch Presidency dossier. The Lisbon Strategy, the Kok report of 3 November 2004 which encompasses an independent review and recommendations for the Member States to achieve the Lisbon goals, and the actions and results of the Dutch presidency in this respect are discussed with a focus on the green aspects of the Lisbon Strategy.

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Editors-in-Chief:
Wybe Th. Douma (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
Jens Hamer (Academy of European Law, Trier)

Editors:
Daria Ratsiborinskaya (Institute of European law, MGIMO, Moscow)
Pamela van der Goot (T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague) Technical realisation:
Marco van der Harst, Julien J.M. Simon
(T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague)
e-mail: mailto:eelnewsservices@asser.nl