On Monday 29 July, the European Commission recommended that the EU Council authorise it to negotiate, on the EU’s behalf, the revision of the Protocol to the 1979 Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, in preparation for the 46th session of the Executive Body in December 2026.
The Gothenburg Protocol, which came into force in 2005, was designed to reduce air pollution in order to protect human health and the environment by reducing emissions of sulphur, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds and ammonia. A first amended version of the Protocol entered into force in October 2019, having been approved by 24 EU Member States and the EU, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland.
The revision process, which is due to begin at the 44th session of the Executive Body from 9 to 12 December 2024, will include negotiations on whether and how to reduce methane emissions and how to further reduce black carbon and ammonia emissions. Generally speaking, new commitments could be made to reduce emissions of pollutants currently covered by the Protocol.
The transboundary nature of air pollution means that the fight against it must be led by the EU, according to the Commission, which had already been authorised to negotiate, on behalf of the Union, for the first revision of the Protocol. In addition, the Commission lists the various instances of its legislation in the area of air pollution, including Directive 2016/2284 on national commitments to reduce emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants for the period 2020-2029 and Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions, both adopted under the Protocol.
For its part, the EU Council, chaired by Hungary, rightly called for greater cross-border cooperation to ensure stronger legislation on cross-border air and water pollution, at an informal ministerial meeting on the environment and climate in Budapest on Friday 12 July (see EUROPE 13452/1). In particular, the Hungarian presidency has invited Member States to observe, by June 2026, the extent to which they contribute to other Member States’ pollution by suspended particulates (aerosol) with a diameter less than 10 µm and 2.5 µm.
See the European Commission’s recommendation: https://aeur.eu/f/d6e (Original version in French by Florent Servia)