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ACCC/C/2007/22 France

Case status: Findings adopted on 03.07.2009 – No non-compliance found; see para. 6 of Decision IV/9
Follow-up: -
Topics: Public participation; Access to justice.
Articles alleged: 3 (1); 6 (1)(5), 6 (8); 9 (2), 9 (5). 
Articles considered by the Committee: 3 (1), 6 (1)(7); 7; 9 (2), 9 (4), 9 (5).
Articles, if any, found in non-compliance: -
Summary: On 21 December 2007, the three French associations L’Association de Défense et de  Protection du Littoral du Golfe de Fosse-sur-Mer, Le Collectif Citoyen Santé Environnement de Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, and Fédération d’Action Régionale pour l’Environnement, submitted a communication to the Compliance Committee, alleging non-compliance by France with its obligations under articles 3 (1), 6 (1)(5) and (8), and 9 (2) and (5) of the Convention. The communication alleged that the Party concerned failed to provide for public participation in the decision-making processes and access to justice in relation to the decision-making process that lead to the construction by Communauté Urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole of a centre for the processing of waste by incineration at Fos-sur-Mer.

  Document Status Date received or posted by the secretariat
  Datasheet ACCC/C/2007/22   29.06.2009
  Determination on admissibility At CC-19 07.03.2008
  Communication (in French)   28.12.2007
  Communication (in English) Informal translation provided by the secretariat 26.12.2007
  ex A to the communication (in French) Summary 26.12.2007
  ex A to the communication (in English) Informal translation provided by the secretariat 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. l : Resolution of 21 December 2007 of the Association de Défense et de Protection du Littoral du Golfe de Fos-sur-Mer (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 2: Resolution of 20 December 2007 of the Collectif Citoyen Sante Environnement de Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhone (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 3 : Resolutions of 21 December 2007 of FARE Sud (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 4 : Resolution of the CUMPM Council, DPEA/2/807/CC, of 20 December 2003 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 5: Resolution of the CUMPM Office, FAG/14/645/B, of 20 December 2003 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 6: Application by FARE Sud for reconsideration of the two resolutions of 20 December 2003 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 7: Letter from the President of the CUMPM of 23 April 2004 rejecting the application (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 8: Judgment of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 12 July 2005, FARE Sud c/ CUMPM, No. 0404639-l (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 9: Notices published in the newspapers “Le Monde” and “La Provence” (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 10: Notice of invitation to tender published in “Le Moniteur des Travaux Publics” (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 11 : List of persons who consulted the dossier made available to the public (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 12: French regulations on public debate: Law 2002-276 of 27 February 2002 relating to community democracy, codified in articles L. 121-1 to L.121-15 of the Environment Code, and Decree 2002-1275 of 22 October 2002 relating to the organization of public debate and the CNDP (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 13: Report by France on the implementation of the Aarhus Convention on Access to I nformation, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to J ustice in Environmental Matters of January 2005 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 14: Decision of the National Commission for Public Debate of 1 December 2004 rejecting as inadmissible the applications made to it for the o rganization of a public debate on the project to build a household-waste treatment unit in the industrial zone of Fos-sur-Mer (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 15: Application for reconsideration from the President of SAN Ouest Provence dated 15 December 2004 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 16: Commission report of 5 January 2005 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 17: Legislation on urgent case procedures before the interim relief judge : Articles L. 521-1 and L. 521-2 of the Code of Administrative Justice (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 18: Order of the interim relief judge of the Conseil d'Etat of 17 March 2005, SYNDICAT D'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE, No. 277768 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 19: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 28 December 2005, SYNDICAT D 'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE, No. 277128 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 20: Resolution of 13 May 2005 of the CUMPM Council (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 21: Contract signature (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 22: Order of the interim relief judge of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 12 August 2005, ASSOCIATION “ FARE SUD” and others, No. 0504521 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 23: Order of 12 January 2006 of the Prefect of Bouches-du- Rhône granting the company EVERE SAS a licence to operate a multifunctional household-waste treatment centre with energy recovery , on the land of the commune of Fos-sur-Mer (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 24: Provisions of the Environment Code relating to public inquiries (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 25: Inquiry notice of 23 August 2005 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 26: Report of the Commission of Inquiry, end paper (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 27: Legislation on environmentally classified installations (ICPE) (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 28: Comments and conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry, pp. 38 and 39 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 29: Report of the Commission of Inquiry, p. 64 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 30: Map of the communes affected by the incinerator (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 31: Comments and conclusions of the Commission of Inquiry, pp. 41 and 42 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 32: Report of the Commission of Inquiry, pp. 64 to 73 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 33: Order of the interim relief judge of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 20 April 2006, SYNDICAT D'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE and others, No. 0602660 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 34: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 23 October 2006, SYNDICAT D’AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE and others, No. 293213 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 35: Order of the interim relief judge of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 24 May 2006, ASSOCIATION DE DEFENSE ET DE PROTECTION DU LITTORAL DU GOLFE DE FOS-SUR-MER and others, Nos. 0602560, 0602661, 0602824 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 36: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 15 February 2007, MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTand others, Nos. 294186, 294217, 294279 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 37: Judgment of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 13 November 2007, ASSOCIATION DE DEFENSE ET DE PROTECTION DU LITTORAL DU GOLFE DE FOS-SUR-MER and others, Nos. 0602553, 0602662, 0602823 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 38: Order of 20 March 2006 of the Prefect of Bouches-du-Rhône granting the company EVERE a building permit for a multifunctional household-waste treatment centre with energy recovery at Fos-sur-Mer (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 39: Article L. 554-10 of the Code of Administrative Justice (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 40 : Order of the interim relief judge of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 16 June 2006, SYNDICAT D'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE and another, No. 0603423 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 41: Order of the interim relief judge of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 16 June 2006, SYNDICAT D'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE and another, No. 0603424 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 42: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 15 February 2007, SYNDICAT D 'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE and another, No. 294852 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 43: Order of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseilles of 21 June 2007, SYNDICAT D'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE, COMMUNE DE FOS-SUR-MER, No. 06MA01896 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 44: Judgment of the Administrative Court of Marseilles of 29 June 2007, SYNDICAT D'AGGLOMERATION NOUVELLE OUEST PROVENCE and others, No. 0603422 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 45: Newspaper article “Le chantier...”, La Provence (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 46: Article L.4 of the Code of Administrative Justice (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 47: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 6 June 2007, COMMUNE DE GROSLAY and another , No. 292942 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 48: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 10 November 2006, ASSOCIATION DE DEFENSE DU RIZZANESE ET DE SON ENVIRONNEMENT, No. 275013 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 49: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 4 August 2006, CRILAN, No. 254945 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 50: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 28 December 2005, ASSOCIATION CITOYENNE INTERCOMMUNALE DES POPULATIONS CONCERNEES PAR LE PROJET D’AEROPORT DE NOTRE-DAME-DES-LANDES, No. 267287 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 51: Judgment of the Administrative Court of Appeal of Marseilles of 20 September 2007, ASSOCIATION NATIONALE DE PROTECTION DES EAUX ET DES RIVIERES, TRUITES-OMBRES-SAUMONS, No. 04MA00286 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Exhibit No. 52: Judgment of the Conseil d'Etat of 5 April 2006, Mme A, M. B and others, No. 275742 (in French) Addendum to the communication 26.12.2007
  Letter to the Party informing about the communication and raising several points Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee made at CC-12 17.04.2008
  Letter to the communicant regarding preliminary admissibility of the communication and request for additional information Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee made at CC-13 17.04.2008
  Coverletter to the response from the Party concerned Coverletter to the official response pursuant to para.23 of the ex to deciison I/7 16.09.2008
  Response from the Party concerned (in French) (in English) Response pursuant to para.23 of the ex to deciison I/7 16.09.2008
  Extracts from from Urban Development Code (in French) ex 1 to the Party's response 16.09.2008
  Extracts from the Environmental Code (in French) ex 2 to the Party's response 16.09.2008
  Article R 121-2 of the Environmental Code (in French) ex 3 to the Party's response 16.09.2008
  Letter of 9.01.1995 from the Ministry of Environment to the MP from the Department of the Bouches-du-Rhône (in French) ex 4 to the Party's response 16.09.2008
  Decision of the Administrative Tribunal of Marseille of 24.06.2003 (in French) ex 5 to the Party's response 16.09.2008
  Decision of the Administrative Tribunal of Marseille of 2.10.2007 (in French) ex 6 to the Party's response 16.09.2008
  Additional information provided by the communicant in response to the questions posed by the Committee (see secretariat's letter of 17.04.2008) (in French) (in English) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No. 53: Public Works concessions, 15.02.2004 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.54: Public notice regarding delegation of waste management service (Le Montieur, 16.04.2006) (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.55: Decision of the Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeals of 19.12.2006 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.56: Decision of the Bordeaux Administrative Court of Appeals of 5.1..1998 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.57: EC Directive 2003/35/CE of 26.05.2003 on public participation in respect of drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment (in French) (in English) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.58: Decision of the Administrative Tribunal of Marseille of 13.05.2008 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.59: Letter from the European Commission to the communicant dated 8.04.2008 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.60: Article 1.7 of the prefectorial order of 12 January 2006 authorizing EVERE to operate an incinerator at Fos-sur-Mer (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.61: Article R.512-39 of the French Environment Code (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.62: Administrative circular of 3.01.1979 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.63: Public notice of 16.01.2006 (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.64: Article L123-9 of the Environmental Code (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.65: Administrative case-law concerning response to public commnets (in French) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Exhibit No.66: National Implementation Report of France (in French) (in English) Additional information from the communicant 17.09.2008
  Letter to the Party concerned regarding the discussion on the subject matter of the communication Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee 26.09.2008
  Letter to the communicant regarding the discussion on the subject matter of the communication Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee 26.09.2008
  Covernote to the additional information provided by the communicant on 27.01.2009 (in French) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 27.01.2009
  Additional information provided by the communicant on 27.01.2009 (in French) (in English) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 27.01.2009
  Exhibit No. 67: CE, 30 December 2002, Ministry of Territorial Management and Environment c/ M.Carminati, rec., p.510; T.X Girardot, « Le retour de la loi-écran devant le juge des référés : la jurisprudence Carminati confirmée par le juge des référés du Conseil d’Etat », AJDA, 16.10.2006, p.1875 (in French) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 27.01.2009
  Exhibit No. 68: Environmental law, n. 150, July-August 2007, p. 179 (in French) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 27.01.2009
  Exhibit No. 69: article L.512-2 of the Environmental Code and Article: 425-10 of the Town Pling Code (in French) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 27.01.2009
  Addtional information provided by the Party concerned on 28.01.2009 (in French) (in English) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 28.01.2009
  Addendum 1 to the additional information provided by the Party concerned on 28.01.2009: table of transposition of the requirements of art. 6 of the Convention into the French legislation (with regard to installations classified for the protection of the environment) (in French) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 28.01.2009
  Addendum 2 to the additional information provided by the Party concerned on 28.01.2009: Access to Justice (in French) (in English) Provided in response to the request of the Committee made at its 22nd meeting 28.01.2009
  Letter to the Party concerned forwarding draft findings and recommendations of the Committee for comments Letter by the secretariat on behalf of the Committee 15.05.2009
  Letter to the communicant forwarding draft findings and recommendations of the Committee for comments Letter by the secretariat on behalf of the Committee 15.05.2009
  Draft Findings and Recommendations Draft for comments by the parties concerned 15.05.2009
  Letter from the communicant providing comments on the draft findings and recommendations Letter from the communicant 18.06.2009
  ex 1 - Comments on the draft findings and recommendations (French) (English) ex to the letter 18.06.2009
  ex 2 - Legal aspects on administrative contracts ex to the letter 18.06.2009
  Letter from the Party concerned declaring no concerns from France about the draft findings Letter from the Party concerned 29.06.2009
  Amicus brief Letter from "Les Amis de la Terre - France" 02.07.2009
  Letter to the Party concerned forwarding findings of the Committee Letter by the secretariat on behalf of the Committee 30.07.2009
  Letter to the communicant forwarding findings of the Committee Letter by the secretariat on behalf of the Committee 30.07.2009
  Findings (En Fr Ru) From the secretariat 08.02.2011