Friends of the Earth and Others v. France

This case marks the conclusion of nearly a decade of litigation over France’s failure to comply with EU Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC, which sets binding limit values for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and particulate matter (PM10). The applicants, Les Amis de la Terre, France Nature Environnement, and other NGOs initiated the case in 2017 after years of systemic exceedances in major French cities. Between 2017 and 2023, the Council of State repeatedly found France in breach of its EU obligations and issued a series of escalating astreintes (financial penalties), reaching €10 million per semester. The Court noted that the government often preferred to pay penalties rather than adopt politically sensitive measures to curb air pollution. However, in April 2025, the Court considered that France had implemented credible and sufficient measures to achieve compliance, most notably through the mandatory Low Emission Zones (Zones à faibles émissions ZFE) introduced by the Climate and Resilience Law (2021) and expanded in 2024. The Court therefore terminated the astreinte and declared its 2017 injunction fully executed.