[Press release] Phonegate* : No Appeal Before the State Council against ANFR

Following the decision of 20 April 2017 by the court of interlocutory proceedings of the Administrative Tribunal of Melun in favor of the National Frequency Agency (ANFR), we have not appealed before the State Council.  The extremely short duration (fifteen days including two holidays), the cost of the proceedings (5,000 euros), the need to call on a lawyer authorized to plead before the State Council and also the added difficulty of finding a council having no conflicts of interest with the mobile phone industry, have been obstacles difficult to avoid before even being able to study the chances of legal success of this approach. 

We are therefore studying alternative legal channels allowing us to obtain as quickly as possible the detailed results of the measurements of the specific absorption rate (SAR) of the torso and limbs of the 95 mobile phones tested in 2015 by ANFR, 89% of which were shown to exceed the European regulatory values protecting the health of users (SAR torso).

At the same time, in the absence of the most basic transparency on the part of ANFR in the face of a public health issue, we will continue, through every means available, to warn users, in particular the youngest ones, about the risks to their health and safety regarding the use of mobile phones in contact or near-contact** with the skin.  The most worrying risks mainly concern all mobile phones sold before June 2016 and certain ones sold between June 2016 and today.

*the origin of the term comes from Pierre Le Hir (Le Monde, 23 December 2016) « Soupçons sur les ondes des téléphones portables » and english version

**maximum 5 millimeters