Brussels, 26/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament and the Council reached agreement on Tuesday on cutting tropospheric ozone levels, obliging Member States to meet the binding targets by 2010 and setting 2020 as the reference year for assessing progress in reaching long-term targets and for reviewing the directive.
The Council noted a number of other demands expressed by Parliament on second reading. The EP wants measures to guarantee the protection of vulnerable people; measures that Member States have to take in areas where the danger level might be exceeded; and the need to compare results between Member States and for them to provide information about the impact of exceeding target values. After the second reading, the Council and Parliament agreed that the human health target for 2010 was to not exceed 120 microgrammes/m3 (ceiling set by the WHO) on more than 25 days a year. The two institutions agreed that targets and long-term objectives have to be respected "unless they are not feasibility in fair proportions". The agreement will be officially adopted without discussion at the next Conciliation meeting (probably on 23 November). (The official text of the agreement will soon be published on http: //http://www.europarl.eu.int/code/backgrou/default_en.htm. )