Decision ID: 001787

In October 2005 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee noted that in September 2005 the Civil Court in Paris had rendered a judgement in respect of a claim by a company whose main activity was construction and sales of ultra light aircraft and sales of equipment for such aircraft, but also undertook as a secondary activity the towing of advertising banners in Loire Atlantique. It was noted that the claim, which was for loss of income from 2000 to 2003 in relation to the latter activity, had been rejected by the Fund on the grounds that the claimant did not sell directly to tourists and that therefore there was not a sufficient link of causation between the contamination and the alleged loss. The Committee noted that the Court had stated that, whilst the Fund’s criteria were not binding on national courts, they could be used as a reference, and had held that since the claimant did not sell services directly to tourists but only to other businesses in the tourism sector (such as casinos and leisure parks), he had not proven that there was a direct link of causation between the alleged decrease in the towing of aerial banners and the contamination, nor had he shown that the pollution had had any impact on tourism beyond 2000. It was noted that the Court had therefore rejected the claim.