Commission of the European Communities v. Kingdom of Belguim

The Court of Justice condemned Belgium as the Flemish and the Wallonia regions failed to comply with the Nitrates directive 91/676. This directive prescribes various steps that the Member States need to take in order to prevent water pollution by nitrates from agriculture. Inter alia, Flanders did not satisfy the rules on codes of good agricultural practice, of indications of vulnerable zones and of the action programs, and Wallonia did not satisfy the indications of vulnerable zones. The complains about the regions’ legislation adopted after date of the Commission’s reasoned opinion in this case were rejected as inadmissible.