The Water Claim Proceedings: Questions of Justification of the Claim -and even more on Questions of Admissibility

摘要

Much has happened since the last update^ on the claim2 filed by the two eager professors, Moritz Hagenmeyer and Andreas Hahn, against the European Commission concerning the annulment of Regulation (EU) No. 11/0/2011 refusing the authorisation of the health claim "The regular consumption of significant amounts of water can significantly reduce the risk of dehydration and concomitant reduction of performance"3. While the defendant managed to avoid taking a position on the reasons of justification of the claim by pleading its inadmissibility, it was now forced to deal with them since the Court has declared that the decision about the admissibility will be reserved for final judgment. After the Court admitted the Council of the European Union's application for intervention, the Council submitted a comprehensive statement in support of the defendant. The plaintiffs, in return, replied to both the defendant's statement of defence as well as the Council's statement of intervention maintaining their plea for annulment of Regulation (EU) No. 11/0/2011. The defendant continued pleading for inadmissibility of the claim, and alternatively for its lacking justification. In the meantime, the Court has declared the end of the extensive written procedure; thus, no further statement of either party is likely to follow in near future. As a consequence, now is the right time to conclude reporting on the Water Claim proceedings! For this purpose, the arguments of all three parties involved are briefly summarised inthe following.