The United Kingdom has consistently and persistently exceeded the EU legal limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) since 2010 in sixteen areas of the country and has failed to fulfil its legal obligation to put in place plans to tackle the problem as soon as possible, in breach of the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50, the EU Court of Justice ruled in a judgment on Thursday 4 March (Case C-664/18).
This is the first decision of the CJEU condemning the United Kingdom since its exit from the EU. It is binding on the non-Member State, since the withdrawal agreement provides for the execution of judgments of the EU Court of Justice in cases prior to Brexit.
The judgment rules in favour of the European Commission, which was at the origin of the infringement proceedings covering the period 2010-2017. It could lead to financial penalties if the UK does not comply with EU law.
The Court found that the declared values exceeded the annual limit value set by the Directive (40 micrograms/m3) by 25-75% in all areas. In addition, the hourly limit value in area UK0001 (Greater London urban area) has been exceeded annually by at least 300%.
“This decision comes from a European Court, but Brexit or no Brexit, these pollution limits remain in national law. The UK government is still bound by these rules and our own national courts have repeatedly found that Ministers have flouted them since they came into force”, commented ClientEarth in a statement.
The breaches of law found by the EU Court of Justice had been the subject of successful legal action by this environmental NGO against the UK government in national courts since 2011.
See the judgment of the Court: https://bit.ly/389JNlM (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)