The Council of State rejected Friday the city of Grande-Synthe (North), which had challenged in February 2019 by a "
recourse in excess of power
" the second National Plan of adaptation to climate change of the government, denouncing "
the amateurism with which the State treats this major subject
”.
The Council of State considered, in view of the documents in the file, that this plan was not "
tainted with a manifest error of assessment
", according to the judgment of which AFP obtained a copy.
Read also: "Climate inaction": the mayor of Grande-Synthe attacks the state
The city, whose mayor was then the environmentalist Damien Carême and who was represented by the lawyer Corinne Lepage, estimated that this document, "
published with nearly three years late
" and "
which does not take up almost any of the recommendations of the report of the CGEDD (General Council for the Environment and Sustainable Development) with regard to the content of the application of the first plan, testifies to the amateurism with which the State deals with this major subject with regard to the lives of our fellow citizens
”.
But for the Council of State, "
the only circumstance that the content of this plan would not respect the recommendations formulated by the CGEDD has no impact on its legality.
», These recommendations not being binding.
The highest administrative court also stresses that if the city of Grande-Synthe argues that this plan is insufficient with regard to the requirements of European Union law, it does not cite "
any binding provision
".
According to Corinne Lepage, this appeal was the “
first dispute in France on the absence of a serious policy on adaptation to climate change
”.