Record amounts have been imposed on France by the Council of State. The country has not complied with air quality standards, in force since 2010.
This is not ordinary. The State is condemned to pay record penalties to public agencies and regional associations that monitor air quality in France, such as Ademe and Airparif. However, these environmental actors did not file a complaint. On October 17, the Council of State imposed penalties of 20 million euros on the State, in addition to the 10 million euros imposed for the first half of 2021 and already paid.
The Council of State “does not want there to be enrichment of the complainants” (Article L. 911-8 of the Administrative Justice Code), explains Me Julien Martinet, founder of the Swift Litigation firm, who did not participate in this procedure, to explain that the NGO at the origin of the complaint receives only a minimal share of the penalty. He specifies that in the future, if the State’s actions continue to be deemed insufficient, the penalties (10 million euros per semester) may be extended or increased.
Additional clarifications: the court has the power to decide that “a portion of the penalty will not be paid to the applicant,” this portion must nevertheless, according to the text, be “allocated to the State budget.” This is a peculiarity in public law that pursues the healthy objective of not turning the penalty into a mechanism for enriching the complainant. Case law has questioned the possibility of using this provision when the penalty is imposed against the State (CE 28.2.01, n°205476, 209474). Here, the judge innovates by using this possibility but by allocating the proceeds of the penalty to other public entities.
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