Brussels, 10/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - The member states of the EU are constantly in breach of the requirements of the 'Clean Air for Europe' directive (directive 2001/81, also known as the NEC directive), a report published by the European Environment Agency confirmed, if confirmation were needed, on Friday 10 June.
It will therefore come as no surprise that the revision of the NEC directive, tightening up the ceiling values for 2020 and adding objectives for 2025 and 2030, is something of a headache for the member states in the interinstitutional negotiations underway (see other article).
The NEC directive currently in force lays down national emissions ceilings for nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and ammonia (NH3). The EEA report, which is based on the preliminary data submitted by the member states for 2014 and the definitive data for the period 2013-2014, bears witness to the problems encountered by the Twenty-Eight in implementing legislation which is critical to improve the quality of air in Europe.
In 2014, for instance, 10 member states exceeded the ceilings for at least one pollutant and one of them, Germany, exceeded the ceilings for three (NOx, NMVOCs and NH3) of the four.
The report also shows that since 2010, 10 member states have persistently exceeded their respective emission ceilings: Germany, Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland and Luxembourg for NOx; Germany, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg for NMVOCs; Germany, Austria, Denmark, Spain, Finland and the Netherlands for NH3.
Over the period 2010-2014, on the other hand, no member state exceeded the ceiling for SO2. And in 2014, the 28 member states collectively did not exceed the total national emissions ceilings for any of the four atmospheric pollutants. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)