The Brussels regional government has breached European Union law by failing to properly monitor and protect the health of its citizens from harmful levels of air pollution; on 29 January, the Brussels General Court ruled that it must remedy this, and in doing so, closed a lawsuit brought in 2016 by ClientEarth and five Brussels residents (see EUROPE 12283/22).
The General Court has confirmed that there are currently no official monitoring points along the main roads in the Brussels-Capital Region. The lack of monitoring stations along these roads means that pollution levels that are above legal standards may well go unnoticed in Brussels.
The Brussels government has been ordered to install one or more monitoring stations along the city’s most polluted arteries within the next six months. If it fails to do so, it will have to pay a penalty payment of EUR 300 per day of delay.
Calling the ruling a “fantastic victory”, Ugo Taddei, a lawyer at ClientEarth commented: “The authorities must act immediately to comply with the law. As the judge pointed out, any delay in executing the order would prolong the health risk for hundreds of thousands of Brussels citizens”.
According to the EEA, the majority of European citizens living in urban areas are still exposed to levels of air pollution that are well beyond the limits recommended by the WHO (see EUROPE 12350/14). (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)