EU court condemns Germany for exceeding nitrate limits

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Thursday that the German government had not taken sufficient action to curb high nitrate levels in groundwater in accordance with EU-wide directives.

The ruling means that the European Commission has the option to propose fines against Germany.

A 2016 German government report found that 28 percent of groundwater measuring stations registered nitrate levels above the EU-mandated threshold of 50 milligrams per liter.