By Brian Johnson - 18th January 2006
Ireland is guilty of breaching EU law by taking a court case against the UK to the UN, according to a top European legal expert.
The European court of justice's advocate general has given an opinion on a case between Dublin and Brussels.
Miguel Poiares Maduro has found that Ireland was wrong to take a dispute with the UK, over radioactive discharges from its Sellafield, nuclear plant to the UN.
Dublin began proceedings in 2001 in an attempt to force the UK to stop discharging nuclear waste into the Irish Sea, under the auspices of the UN’s convention on the law of the sea.
But a UN tribunal decision was halted, after the commission challenged the legality of Ireland’s case, arguing that the EU’s legal system had jurisdiction over the case, not the UN.
Maduro maintained that Ireland had failed to fulfil its EU treaty obligations, and should have consulted first before taking their case to the UN.
The opinion centres on the fact that environmental policy is covered by EU treaty and the powers of Brussels institutions.
“In his view, where even part of the dispute is governed by EC law, the ECJ is the competent forum. Where the case raises issues of community law, member States must settle their differences within the community,” said a statement.
The advocate general’s opinion is not final but is normally endorsed by the full court.
If the opinion is confirmed, Ireland will be forced to drop its UN case and Dublin will have to reinstitute any legal proceedings from scratch through the EU’s legal system.
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