The European Commission launched a second four-week public consultation on Thursday 23 September on the revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directive to bring EU standards more in line with the stricter World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, as part of the European Green Deal.
According to the roadmap published by the European Commission in January 2020, the proposal for the review is scheduled for the third quarter of 2022. All interested parties are invited to participate in the consultation until midnight Brussels time on 16 December 2021.
This consultation was opened to the public the day after the WHO published its new recommendations, which are even stricter than those of 2005, revised for the first time (see EUROPE 12795/16).
The WHO recommends lower values for several pollutants, in particular for PM2.5, which is the most dangerous for health and for which a new annual concentration of 5 µg/m³ is now recommended (the current EU annual standard is 25 µg/m³). For nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which has been the focus of discussions on road transport and driving bans in city centres, a new annual concentration of 10 µg/m³ is now recommended (previously 40 µg/m³).
When questioned by the press, the European Commission spokesperson in charge of the European Green Deal, Vivian Loonela, assured that these new WHO recommendations “will be taken into account”.
NGOs are calling for full alignment. Citing the 400,000 premature deaths per year caused by air pollution in the EU and the particular vulnerability of children to polluted air, the NGO HEAL promptly urged the EU and national decision-makers to step up efforts to promote clean air for health. “European ambient air quality standards must be aligned with WHO recommendations and the latest scientific evidence by 2030 in order to rapidly reduce premature death and disease”, said Sophie Perroud of HEAL, in a 23 September statement.
Emilia Samuelsson of the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), says “it is time to strengthen European air quality standards and extend them to more pollutants. Air pollution harms us all and reducing harmful emissions from all sectors should be a priority in all EU policies”.
A new study by EEB and Green Transition Denmark reveals that domestic heating with wood and coal in small private stoves and boilers emits about half of all fine particles and black carbon in the EU.
In March, the European Parliament called for the future inclusion of all harmful pollutants (see EUROPE 12686/10).
See the public consultation: https://bit.ly/3i0GZfC
See the EEB study: https://bit.ly/3hZMNpM (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)