Brussels, 21/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has proposed to the EU an intensification of the fight against air pollution in order to preserve the health of the citizens and improve the quality of the environment. In its adoption, on Wednesday, of its communication on "a thematic strategy on air quality", the College put an end to the row which postponed the presentation of a text which was anticipated for July (EUROPE 8983), but of which certain Commissioners expressed misgivings about the implications in terms of costs and its negative impact on European competitiveness. The strategy aims to reduce the number of early deaths by 40%, by 2020, which are caused each year by illnesses related to atmospheric pollution, and to reduce the surface area of forests, crops and other ecosystems which are damaged by pollution. It covers all polluting emissions, but particularly attacks the pollutants which are most dangerous to human health, such as extremely fine dust or particles (which are the cause of early deaths and various cardio-vascular effects), and tropospheric ozone (the cause of the increased death rate and of non-deadly effects on pulmonary function). Here are the broad outlines of the proposed strategy:
Rationalisation, simplification and modernisation of existing legislation on air quality in order to facilitate the implementation by the Member States and to respect the objective of better regulation. In this way, the framework directive on air quality and its subsidiary directives will be brought together in one single directive, and requirements in terms of data communication will be brought up to date. The Member States which are capable of proving that they have taken all required measures in order to apply the legislation (but still failing to respect their quality standards in certain towns or cities) will, on a case-by-case basis, be allowed to request an extension to their deadline to come into line with the standards in the affected areas, as long as they put a short-term plan into place to move towards conformity.
The introduction, into the legislation, of an obligation to reduce the average concentrations of PM25 in each Member State, and setting maximum air concentration values for particles of a diameter less than 2.5 microns (PM25), which will be applicable as of 2010.
Revision of the directive on national emission ceilings to bring them into line with the objectives of the strategy.
Examination of the range of possible other measures in the field of transport (such as bringing in new Euro V norms for car emissions), energy and agriculture.
Presenting the strategy to the press, Stavros Dimas, Commissioner for the Environment, thus summed up the objectives pursued: understanding the current situation, establishing effective interim objectives, defining measures to allow these objectives to be achieved, consolidate and modernise existing community legislation. "By reducing the exposure of the citizens to small particles of a diameter of less than 2.5 microns (PM25) and to tropospheric ozone, the number of premature deaths will fall from 370,000 a year to 230,000 in 2002. Furthermore the benefits to be gained from this strategy between now and 2020 have been estimated at 42 billion EUR savings in terms of health care, which is almost 6 times higher than the costs of the initiative, which have been put at 7.1 billion EUR. This proposal will allow Europe to an adamant one of the most ambitious policies in this field".
In order to bring the most reluctant Commissioners on board, the Commission has sought the most efficient and lowest-cost solution, which is in line with both the objectives of growth and employment under the Lisbon strategy and the EU's sustainable development strategy, stressed Stavros Dimas, who is delighted to have succeeded in convincing his colleagues of the benefits to health at play. This does not even take account of the fact that the benefits to the environment, whilst difficult to calculate, are likely, in his view, to be considerable. Mr Dimas acknowledged that in order to reach this agreement, the Commission had to scale down its level of ambition, particularly in terms of tropospheric ozone (a reduction of 60% of the concentration rate in the air, as opposed 80% initially) and, to a lesser extent, for particles (a reduction of 75% instead of 80%). This has led to a considerable reduction in the estimated costs (7.1 billion instead of the 12 billion initially estimated).
The thematic strategy on air pollution is the first in a series of seven thematic strategies, included in the sixth action programme for the environment and due by the end of the year (protection of marine ecosystems, prevention and recycling of waste, protection of the soils, sustainable use of natural resources, sustainable use of pesticides, urban environment).