Commission of the European Communities v Kingdom of Belgium (21 January 1999) European Court of Justice C-207/97 1

United Kingdom

This case involved an action brought by the Commission against the Belgian Government for its failure to fulfil its obligations under Directive 76/464/EEC of 4 May 1976 on pollution caused by certain dangerous substances discharged into the aquatic environment of the Community. In particular, Article 7(1) of the Directive provides that Member States must adopt and communicate a programme for reducing pollution of waters by substances set out in List I and List II of that Article. The Belgian Government had failed to do so in respect of 99 of the substances set out in those lists and the European Commission's action was, therefore, successful. (Official Journal of the European Communities, 21 January 1999)