Brussels, 24/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - In a ruling delivered on Tuesday 24 June, the Court of Justice found that Total may be held responsible for the pollution caused by the shipwreck of the oil tanker Erica (case C-188/07). The Court said in its preliminary ruling that the heavy fuel oil that spilled from the shipwrecked vessel off the coast of Finistère in December 1999 was rendered unuseable; it had, therefore, to be considered as “waste” under the terms of the Community directive (75/442/EEC, amended by 96/350/EC). Moreover, the charterer (Total International Ltd) may share the responsibility for the pollution “in particular if he failed to take measures to prevent such an incident, such as measures concerning the choice of ship”. In January 2008, the Paris Criminal Court found Total negligent in chartering a vessel as severely rusted as the Erika. The European Court has finally highlighted that the national court must hold the one producing the waste responsible, in the event of the other agents (owner or charterer of the vessel) being exonerated. It was another company belonging to the group (Total raffinage distribution, which became Total France SA) which produced the fuel oil in question. The case has been returned to the French Appeal Court, to which the coastal community of Mesquer turned to recover the costs of cleaning up its coastline. (C.D./transl.rt)