Expropriation pour cause d’utilité publique et droit de préemption

Abstract

Unlike the situation in pre-emption law, expropriation law has once again featured a very high degree of stability. While it is not truly novel, the decision handed down by France’s Conseil d’État on 11 December 2019 relative to controls exercised by the administrative judge in the area of public utility is worth pointing out. It bears witness to the intensity that the administrative judge may apply to these controls so long as they at least do not call into question one of the major development plans involving “the State” very directly, in which case the administrative judge usually applies the greatest level of reserve, considering that this choice arises from “advisability” rather than from “legality”.On the subject of pre-emption, the major event of the year 2019 was the adoption of the “Commitment and Proximity” law of 27 December 2019, which establishes a right of pre-emption for the preservation of water resources used for human consumption. The aim is to provide communes and intercommunal organisations with a right of preemption to enable them to acquire farmland necessary for the protection of areas of drinking water catchment and supply.