Court orders removal of smart meters for medical reasons
Franceinfo avec AFP reports that the tribunal de grande instance (TGI) in Tours has requested the removal of smart meters (Linky meters) for thirteen individuals. Out of 121 anti-Linky requests filed by the residents of the Center region opposed to the installation of this meter at their home, cited in three judgments, 108 were rejected and thirteen were approved for medical reasons.
For one of them, a 7-year-old child living in Tours, the court admitted that “the state of chronic fatigue” and “sleep difficulties” , attested by a medical certificate, “could be related to the Linky counter.” (smart meter). For this, as for twelve other cases, the TGI of Tours requests the removal of smart meters for these people.
Arguments of the precautionary principle were used and medical certificates were provided by Arnaud Durand, the lawyer, on June 4, and claimed “imminent damage” for “people who will not be able to live at home”. The National Health Security Agency (ANSES) concluded in June 2017 that there were health uncertainties that have not been clarified, according to Durand. The latter has stated its intention to seize other courts throughout France to enable the removal of smart meters for individual.
The smart meter, of which Enedis is piloting the installation to remotely monitor live electricity consumption, has been the subject of recurring controversy since its first deployment in 2015. Twenty-two courts have seen activity around smart meters. The vast majority of plaintiffs, several hundred to date, have been dismissed except for a handful of “electrosensitive” people in Rennes, Toulouse, Bordeaux.
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