10 THE ITALIAN LAW JOURNAL NOS. 1-2 (2024)
The Right to Clean Air and Directive 2008/50/EC. Civil Liability, Resilient Approach, and Sustainability to Safeguard the Effectiveness of Environmental Protection
by Loretta Moramarco The essay explores the ruling of the Court of Justice in case C-573/19, which recognised Italy’s ‘systematic and continuous’ infringement of the annual limit value set for nitrogen dioxide, upholding the complaint brought under Art 258 TFEU by the European Commission. Furthermore, the piece takes on a critical look on the weakness of the Court’s argumentative process on Italy’s defence: more specifically, this topic should be dealt with from a socioeconomic standpoint, with a focus on resilience and sustainability as well. The essay also discusses the possibility to recognize the subjective right to clean air, which is enforceable before the European Court of Justice, to guarantee the effectiveness of environmental protection. DOI 10.23815/2421-2156.ITALJ ISSN 2421-2156
