A Paris resident seeking 21 million euros ($22 million) for health damage caused by the city’s pollution got a boost from an adviser to the European Union’s top court who said the French state may be liable.
The non-binding opinion from Advocate General Juliane Kokott comes three years after EU judges rebuked France in a ruling for “systematically and persistently” exceeding since 2010 the annual limit value for nitrogen dioxide set by the bloc.
On Thursday, Kokott, of the EU Court of Justice, said that failing to abide by these limit values for the protection of air quality may give rise to entitlement to compensation from the state. She cautioned that the toughest part in the Parisian’s lawsuit would be to prove a direct causal link between the breach and specific damage to health.
President Emmanuel Macron has faced criticism over climate policies during his first five-year term from activists and even French judges who criticized the government’s failure to curb greenhouse gas emissions fast enough. In a nod to voters concerned about the environment, Macron vowed to end the use of fossil fuels in France days before he emerged as the winner of his face-off with far-right leader Marine Le Pen last month.
The case is: C-61/21, Ministre de la Transition écologique and Premier ministre
Photograph: The Dome des Invalides church in Paris, as viewed from the Generali Baloon, a hot air research balloon, as it performs air quality checks on Saturday, July 18, 2020. The French state was scolded by judges for failing to properly tackle air pollution and given a six-month ultimatum to clean up or face millions of euros in fines. Photo credit: Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
Topics Pollution
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