Negotiations between the European Parliament, the EU Council and the European Commission began on Thursday 16 November on the October 2022 proposal to revise the Ambient Air Quality Directives to bring EU standards more into line with WHO recommendations in order to ensure cleaner air by 2030 and achieve the goal of zero pollution by 2050 (see EUROPE 13051/1).
For this inaugural ‘trilogue’, which was very brief, the institutions simply presented their respective positions, as is customary.
The EU Council recently expressed its position on 9 November, introducing a large number of flexibilities, notably regarding compliance with limit values, alert thresholds, ambient air quality assessment and penalties. It also ensured that transboundary pollution is taken into account (see EUROPE 13289/5).
Parliament, which voted in September on the basis of an amended report by Javi López (S&D, Spanish), was much more ambitious, even though it postponed until 2035 the alignment of EU standards with WHO recommendations (see EUROPE 13249/13).
No substantive discussions took place. Negotiations will continue at technical level over the coming weeks. There are plans for a second trilogue to address the political issues in December, before the end of the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council, but nothing is certain at this stage. (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)