Luxembourg, 28/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - "The eutrophication of the eastern part of the North Sea, of northern France and of Norway has its origin in the discharge of nutrients, including nitrogen, by the basins draining into the North Sea and the eastern part of the English Channel. The Seine alone produces an annual flow of over 100,000 tonnes of nitrogen, to thirds of it of agricultural origin, in a total flow of 400,000 tonnes a year going from the Channel to the North Sea", explained the Court of Justice, finding France guilty of violating the 1991 Directive on the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources.
The sixth Chamber of the Court, chaired by Irish Judge Fidelma Macken, ruled that France should have designated water in the Seine Bay as eutrophic (which it failed to do). "The methodology applied by the French Republic results in large sections of surface freshwaters, flowing brackish estuaries and coastal waters never being able to be designated as eutrophic, even if nitrate pollution from agricultural sources or the risk of such pollution is a fact", whence failure to comply with the EU Directive and the Court finding France guilty. "The interpretation given to the concept of eutrophication by the French authorities and the method which they have adopted to identify the waters affected by pollution are too restrictive and, consequently, incompatible with the Directive", notes the Court, adding that "even if the phenomenon of eutrophication is not evident in the Seine bay itself, it is nonetheless the case that that zone contributes to the eutrophication of the North Sea… a zone requiring special protection". According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "eutrophic" is an adjective used to describe water rich in nutrients and therefore supporting a dense plant population, which kills animal life by depriving it of oxygen.
This case is similar to a March 2001 ruling in which the Sixth Chamber, chaired by Danish Judge Claus Gulmann, slammed France for doing nothing over two decades to combat pollution of the water table caused by intensive pig farming that at times made drinking water undrinkable in various villages in Brittany. France was found guilty of violating the 1975 EU Directive on human drinking water quality (see EUROPE of 17 March 2001).