The European Commission is proposing to modernise and strengthen the EU’s Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU, the so-called ‘IED’ Directive) to facilitate the transition to the circular economy by 2030 and the ambition of zero toxic pollution of EU water, air and soil by 2050 - with the protection of human health, the EU’s climate ambitions and the competitiveness of the European economy in the spotlight, in accordance with the European Green Deal which is a strategy for ‘green’ growth, according to the institution.
The revision of the directive, proposed on Tuesday 5 April as part of a legislative package on pollutant emissions, broadens the scope of the directive to cover more large industrial installations and intensive agricultural holdings, improves key provisions on the permitting and control of industrial installations, aims to stimulate innovation, while providing citizens with more transparent access to relevant environmental information, with the possibility of obtaining redress in the event of an infringement committed against them (see EUROPE 12922/5).
“By modernising Europe’s industrial emissions framework now there is certainty about future rules to guide long-term investments, increase Europe’s energy and resource independence, and encourage innovation”, said the Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, at a press conference.
“This is not a proposal that goes after farmers. On the contrary. (It) brings down emissions from all of Europe’s most polluting installations”, he said. He added that farmers would benefit from a lighter permitting procedure, that the CAP would help them and that the transition would not take place overnight: implementation would take place, at the earliest, in 2027, with a two-year transition period for operators, allowing them to prepare for the full application of the legislation between 2030 and 2034.
Increased efficiency. The proposed revision retains the directive’s successful approach: governance based on Best Available Techniques (BAT), developed over a number of years, in a transparent process involving EU Member States, industry and environmental NGOs. It aims to make it more effective.
The 2020 evaluation of the directive highlighted the important role played by this legislation in reducing polluting emissions from industry - a reduction of between 40 and 80% depending on the pollutant - particularly in the air, but reported a more limited contribution to decarbonisation and the transition to the circular economy (see EUROPE 12566/3).
In fact, the 52,000 large plants currently covered still contribute about 40% of greenhouse gas emissions, more than 50% of total air emissions of sulphur oxides, heavy metals and other harmful substances, and about 30% of air emissions of nitrogen oxides and fine particles.
“Air pollution is a silent killer”, stressed the Commissioner for the Environment, Viriginijus Sinkevičius, citing the WHO and recalling that it causes more than 400,000 premature deaths per year in the EU. The expected benefits in terms of public health, due to reduced exposure of citizens to pollution, are estimated by the Commission at between 5.5 and 7 billion euros per year.
Rather than being satisfied with the least demanding BAT limit values - as some 80% of installations currently do - operating permits will have to assess the possibility of achieving the best performance. The directive will also strengthen the rules on granting derogations by harmonising the required assessments and ensuring a regular review of derogations granted.
For the first time, landfilling of waste will be covered by BAT.
A broad scope of application. The directive brings into the scope of application the extraction of industrial and metallic minerals, large battery production sites, which are expected to grow exponentially to develop electromobility and promote the digital transition sought by the EU, and more large intensive livestock farms. Pig and poultry farms, which account for 60-73% of the ammonia stock and 42-62% of the methane released into the environment, would also be covered. For the time being, the proposal focuses on the most problematic, i.e. about 50% of these livestock farms.
Flexibility to encourage innovation. In order to ensure that the most advanced technologies are used and benefit all industries, pioneers testing emerging techniques would benefit from a flexible (non-BAT based) permit system.
An Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) will be created to help industry identify innovative solutions for pollution control.
Transformation plans to 2030 should be adopted, which go hand in hand with transition technologies. Operators will have to show how their installation will contribute to the ‘zero pollution’ objective by 2050.
More transparency. The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR), which currently provides public access to information on pollutant emissions from the EU’s largest industrial facilities on the European Environment Agency’s website, will be renamed the European Industrial Emissions Portal. See the website: https://aeur.eu/f/147
It will provide public access to Europe-wide and local emissions information and operating permits. This is in accordance with the EU’s Aarhus Regulation, transposing the international convention of the same name on public access to environmental information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice.
“This publication of the permits obtained will allow citizens to compare performance and, in the event of an infringement, to obtain compensation”, the Commissioner stressed.
The EU Regulation that established the E-PRTR will be amended to take account of the revision of the IED Directive, in particular the extension of its scope.
See the IED proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/149 (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)