Judgment of the General Court Seventh Chamber, Extended Composition of 4 October 2023, Ascenza Agro and Industrias Afrasa v Commission, T-77/20
| Date | 04 October 2023 |
| Year | 2023 |
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Devices which are not propelled exclusively by mechanical power and which therefore cannot travel
on land without the use of muscular power, such as an electric bicycle which may accelerate to
20 km/h without pedalling, do not appear to be capable of causing bodily or material damage to third
parties comparable, as regards gravity or scale, to the damage that may be caused by motorcycles,
cars, trucks or other vehicles, travelling on land, propelled exclusively by mechanical power. The latter
can reach speeds significantly higher than those that can be achieved by such devices and, at present,
predominate on the road. The objective of protecting victims of road accidents caused by motor
vehicles, pursued by Directive 2009/103, therefore does not require that such devices be covered by
the concept of a ‘vehicle’, within the meaning of point 1 of Article 1 of that directive.
2. PLANT PROTECTION PRODUCTS
Judgment of the General Court (Seventh Chamber, Extended Composition) of 4 October
2023, Ascenza Agro and Industrias Afrasa v Commission, T-77/20
Link to the full text of the judgment
Non-renewal of approval of the active substance chlorpyrifos-methyl – Action for annulment – Standing to
bring proceedings – Admissibility – Obligation to examine all the conditions and criteria set out in
heard – Obligation to state reasons – Divergent risk assessments by the rapporteur Member State and
EFSA – Obligation to take into account all the relevant factors of the case – Interim report on an ongoing
study – Precautionary principle – Burden of proof and matter to be proved – Manifest error of
assessment – Applicability of the read-across approach and of the weight-of-evidence approach –
Possibility of relying on the ECHA and EFSA guidelines
Chlorpyrifos-methyl (‘CHP-methyl’) is an active substance used in plant protection products to control
pests and to treat stored cereal grain and empty warehouses. CHP-methyl belongs to a group of
chemicals called organophosphates, to which another active substance named chlorpyrifos also
belongs.
Directive 91/414 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market
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established the
legal regime for authorising the placing of plant protection products on the market in the European
Union. CHP-methyl and chlorpyrifos were included in Annex I to that directive by Directive 2005/72.
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The Commission’s approval of CHP-methyl was extended on three occasions before expiring on
31 January 2020.
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Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market (OJ 1991 L 230, p. 1).
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Commission Directive 2005/72/EC of 21 October 2005 amending Council Directive 91/414/EEC to include chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-methyl,
mancozeb, maneb, and metiram as active substances (OJ 2005 L 279, p. 63). Directive 91/414 was replaced by Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009
of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 October 2009 concerning the placing of plant protection products on the market and
repealing Council Directives 79/117/EEC and 91/414/EEC (OJ 2009 L 309, p. 1), under which the active substances listed in Annex I to Directive
91/414 were deemed to be approved. Those substances are now listed in Part A of the Annex to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU)
No540/2011 of 25 May 2011 implementing Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the list
of approved active substances (OJ 2011 L 153, p. 1).
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