This is a new snub for the government. In a decision rendered on Monday, October 17, the Council of State condemned the State to pay a record fine of 20 million euros for its inability to bring air pollution levels below regulatory thresholds on the whole territory.
The bill now stands at 30 million euros. The executive had already been fined 10 million euros by the highest administrative court in August 2021. It concerned the first half of 2021. This new conviction covers the period between 1er July 2021 and the 1er July 2022.
Between the two decisions, the situation has certainly improved, but not enough, considers the administrative judge, who recalls that these thresholds should be respected since 2010. Exceedings of the limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), toxic gas emitted mainly by road traffic, are still found in the main cities: Paris, Marseille and Lyon. And in Toulouse, the situation is considered too ” brittle ” to be considered as “sufficiently consolidated” : the annual average concentration of nitrogen dioxide was 38 micrograms (µg) per cubic meter in 2021, just below the limit value (of 40 µg/m3), but “in degradation” compared to 2020. In 2021, five metropolises were affected by overruns, according to the latest national air quality report published on October 14 by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
For the Council of State, “the seriousness of the consequences in terms of public health” and “the resulting urgency” justify the record amount and the renewal of the penalty imposed in August 2021
However, it has been years since the State should have put an end to these overruns which expose the French to a major risk for their health. Air pollution is the cause of at least 40,000 premature deaths each year, and a litany of pathologies, with impacts on lung cancer in non-smokers, breast cancer, accidents cerebrovascular diseases and cardiovascular diseases… In recent weeks, new scientific publications have confirmed and clarified the many deleterious effects of nitrogen dioxide and fine particles. For the Council of State, “the seriousness of the consequences in terms of public health” and “the resulting urgency” justify the record amount and the renewal of the penalty imposed in August 2021.
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