Residents living near the future site of a phone mast have one a court proceeding against the mobile phone giant Orange. A judge in Angers Tribunal de Grande Instance (District Court) in France, has forbidden Orange from erecting a mobile phone antenna in a church bell tower right next to a school, citing the precautionary principle.
The court noted that “… the (ICNIRP) standard is old (1999), adopted without change by France, and that it is even termed “obsolete” by the European Parliament in its resolution of 4 September 2008 on the mid-term evaluation of the European plan of action on matters of environment and health 2004-2010.” They continue to state that, due to the uncertainty of the science and the possibility that the guidelines are insufficient to protect the public from harm to health, coupled with a lack of evidence provided by Orange that they make any attempt to lower exposure beyond that as stipulated in the guidelines, they are not able to permit the erection of the antenna to go ahead.