25 EU Member States have failed to show how they will reduce air pollution to comply with the European National Emission Ceilings Directive (EU 2016/2284, ‘NEC’ Directive), according to a report by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) published on 18 December.
This directive sets national emission reduction targets for five major pollutants for 2020-2029 and more ambitious commitments for 2030 and beyond (see EUROPE 12515/25).
According to EEB, only Belgium and Slovakia are on track to meet the targets for the decade 2020-2029, while Belgium is the only one on track to meet its commitments for 2030.
The first air pollution control programme describing how each Member State intends to reduce its emissions had to be submitted to the Commission by 1 April 2019.
However, only eight countries submitted it before the deadline (Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, the Netherlands, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom), while others submitted it more than a year late.
Greece, Luxembourg and Romania have still not submitted their programmes and Italy has submitted only one project.
“We call on the European Commission to start infringement proceedings against all the member states which have failed to submit a credible programme, and to ensure that all plans are fit for purpose”, says EEB expert Margherita Tolotto.
To view the report: http://bit.ly/3nvHI9t (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)