Judgment of the General Court of 31 January 2024 — Symphony Environmental Technologies and Symphony Environmental v Parliament and Others

(Case T-745/20) (1)

(Non-contractual liability - Environment - Directive (EU) 2019/904 - Prohibition on the placing on the market of products made from oxo-degradable plastic - Sufficiently serious breach of a rule of law intended to confer rights on individuals - No distinction between products made from oxo-degradable plastic and products made from oxo-biodegradable plastic - Impact assessment - Equal treatment - Proportionality)

(C/2024/2146)

Language of the case: English

Parties

Applicants: Symphony Environmental Technologies plc (Borehamwood, United Kingdom), Symphony Environmental Ltd (Borehamwood) (represented by: P. Selley, Solicitor, J. Holmes King’s Counsel, and J. Williams, Barrister-at-law)

Defendants: European Parliament (represented by: L. Visaggio, C. Ionescu Dima and W. Kuzmienko, Agents), Council of the European Union (represented by: A. Maceroni and M. Moore, Agents), European Commission (represented by: R. Lindenthal and L. Haasbeek Agents)

Re:

By their action based on Article 268 TFEU, the applicants seek compensation for the damage that they claim to have suffered as a result of the adoption of Article 5 and recital 15 of Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 June 2019 on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (OJ 2019 L 155, p. 1), in so far as the prohibition on the placing on the market of products made from oxo-degradable plastic laid down in Article 5 and recital 15 applies to oxo-biodegradable plastic.

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:

1.	Dismisses the action;;

2.	Orders Symphony Environmental Technologies plc and Symphony Environmental Ltd to pay the costs.

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(1)   OJ C 53, 15.2.2021.