C-255/08 Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of the Netherlands

Judgment of the Court (Sixth Chamber) of 15 October 2009 – Commission v Netherlands (Case C-255/08) Failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations – Directive 85/337/EEC – Assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment – Determination of thresholds – Size of the project – Incomplete transposition Environment – Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment – Directive 85/337 – Projects belonging to the classes listed in Annex II – Member States’ discretion – Limits (Council Directive 85/337, as amended by Directives 97/11 and 2003/35, Arts 2(1), 3 and 4(2) and (3), and Annexes II and III) (see paras 29-35, 39, 42-43 and operative part) Re: Operative part The Court: 1. Declares that, by failing to adopt all the provisions necessary to ensure that projects likely to have significant effects on the environment are made subject to a consent procedure and to an assessment of those effects, in accordance with Article 4(2) and (3) of Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended by Council Directive 97/11/EC of 3 March 1997 and by Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003, in conjunction with Annexes II and III to Directive 85/337, the Kingdom of the Netherlands has failed to fulfil its obligations under that directive; 2. Orders the Kingdom of the Netherlands to pay the costs.