Decision ID: 003649

In October 2009 the 1992 Fund Executive Committee recalled that in December 2007 the Commercial Court in Lorient had rendered a judgement in respect of claims submitted by two mussel processors for economic losses in 2001. The Committee recalled that the claims by the mussel processors for 2000 had been settled by the 1992 Fund but that the Fund had rejected the claims for losses in 2001. It was also recalled that the Court had stated that the fact that there was no pollution in the area where the claimants’ business operated in 2001, which in the Court’s opinion had not been proved, was not relevant if it was proved that the claimant had suffered losses as a direct consequence of the incident. The Committee recalled that the Court had however rejected the claims, since it had considered that the claimants had not suffered any losses in 2001 as a result of the incident. The Executive Committee noted that in a judgement rendered in February 2009 the Court of Appeal in Rennes had confirmed the judgement by the Commercial Court on the grounds that the claimant had not proved that there was a sufficiently close link of causation between the alleged losses and the contamination as a result of the Erika incident.