Brussels, 07/06/2007 (Agence Europe) - Emissions of some industrial pollutants are continuing to rise in the European Union according to a review of pollution in 2004, published on 7 June by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA).
The second European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) review confirms last year's preliminary assessment. The second report marks the first comprehensive report of emissions data for industrial pollutants in the EU25 and Norway. It points out that CO2 emissions rose by 5.7% between 2001 and 2004. The Commission and EEA say this is because the European carbon trading system was not in place in 2004.
The review reveals that about two-thirds of the 50 air and water industrial pollutants have been decreasing. These include nitrogen pollutants released into water bodies (-14.5%), the various types of phosphorus (-12%), and the emissions of dioxins/furans (-22.5%) into the atmosphere.
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas said: “I am encouraged by the efforts made by member states to report their emissions on time. This is important in that the EPER review is a valuable analysis of industrial pollution data and serves as an important policy-making tool in the field of pollution prevention and control. However, this report shows that member states need to do more to combat industrial pollution."
Professor Jacqueline McGlade, executive director of the EEA, added: “EPER allows us to analyse and present point source information on pollution across the EU and make this information available to the citizens of Europe. We see EPER as a stepping stone for the future European Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers, an important information source for all within the Shared Environmental Information System for Europe.”
The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (European PRTR) is due to replace EPER and will be published in 2009, based on 2007 data. The PRTR will cover more than 91 substances from industrial installations in 65 different fields of economic activity, in addition to releases from diffuse sources such as road traffic, domestic heating and agriculture. The European Pollutant Emission Register can be found at http://www.eper.ec.europa.eu (an)