Commission v United Kingdom (Bathing water)
The United Kingdom had failed to ensure that the quality of bathing waters at Blackpool and Southport met the standards of the Bathing Water Directive, and practical difficulties were no excuse.
Facts
The Bathing Water Directive required member states to ensure that the quality of bathing waters met certain microbiological standards within ten years. The Commission brought infringement proceedings against the United Kingdom, because the bathing waters at Blackpool and at Formby and Southport did not meet the standards, mainly because of discharges of sewage. The United Kingdom argued that it had taken all practicable steps, and that the beaches were not bathing waters within the directive because there was no tradition of bathing there.
Legal principle
The Court of Justice held that the United Kingdom had failed to fulfil its obligations. The court said that the beaches were bathing waters, because bathing was traditionally practised there by a large number of bathers, as shown by the presence of changing huts and lifeguards, and that member states could not avoid their obligations by failing to designate such waters. The directive imposed an obligation to achieve a result, not merely to take all practicable steps, and the United Kingdom could not rely on practical difficulties to justify its failure. The decision led to substantial investment in sewage treatment.
Related cases on air and water quality
- ClientEarth v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Case C-404/13, EU:C:2014:2382
- Commission v United Kingdom (Air quality) Case C-664/18, EU:C:2021:171
- Janecek v Freistaat Bayern Case C-237/07, [2008] ECR I-6221
- National Rivers Authority v Yorkshire Water Services Ltd [1995] 1 AC 444
- R (ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2015] UKSC 28
- R (ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (No 2) [2016] EWHC 2740 (Admin)
- R v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex p Standley Case C-293/97, [1999] ECR I-2603
- Wychavon District Council v National Rivers Authority [1993] 1 WLR 125
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