Oil groups may avoid spill liability: court adviser

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - A European Court of Justice judge advising on the "Erika" oil spill case involving French oil group Total said on Thursday companies which do not intentionally cause damage could be excluded from liability.

In a non-binding opinion, Advocate General Juliane Kokott said the European Union's "polluter-pays" principle could justify liability for pollution damage caused by spilt oil under EU waste laws.

But "it is also compatible with the polluter-pays principle to exclude from liability for oil pollution damage those who did not cause that pollution either intentionally or recklessly," the court said in a statement summing up her view.

Total agreed in January to pay a total of nearly 200 million euros ($307.3 million) in damages to victims who agree to drop charges but is challenging a French court ruling blaming it for the 1999 spill, one of France's worst environmental disasters.

The ECJ follows the opinions of its advocates general in a majority of cases. Total's shares were little moved by the news, remaining around their earlier level of 48.18 euros, down 1.7 percent on the day, in line with the European sector.

A Paris court ruled in January that Total was responsible for the sinking of the rusting tanker Erika which it had chartered, and ordered it to pay damages for one of France's worst environmental disasters.

The Erika broke up and sank in heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay some 70 km (45 miles) off the French coast on December 12, 1999, pouring 20,000 tons of toxic fuel oil into the sea.

Total said that, while it was appealing some aspects of the French judgment, it would pay the court-ordered compensation to those who agreed to renounce any subsequent appeal.

The opinion of the European court's advocate-general was delivered after the French court handling an appeal by the town of Mesquer for damages to help clean its beaches sought advice.

(Writing by Mark John; editing by William Schomberg)