Brussels, 20 February 2024
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Stricter 2030 limits for several air pollutants
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Air quality indices to be comparable across all member states
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Access to justice and right to compensation for citizens
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Air pollution leads to around 300 000 premature deaths per year in the EU
The new law aims to reduce air pollution in the EU to achieve a clean and healthy environment for citizens as well as zero air pollution by 2050.
On Tuesday, negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached a provisional political agreement on new measures to ensure air quality in the EU is not harmful to human health, natural ecosystems and biodiversity with the aim to eliminate air pollution by 2050.
Stricter air quality standards and targets
The new rules set stricter 2030 limits and target values, compared to current rules, for several pollutants including particulate matter (PM2.5, PM10), NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) and SO2 (sulphur dioxide). For the two pollutants with the highest documented impact on human health, PM2.5 and NO2, the annual limit values are to be more than halved from 25 µg/m³ to 10 µg/m³ and from 40 µg/m³ to 20 µg/m³ respectively. There will also be more air quality sampling points in cities. The air quality standards shall be reviewed by 31 December 2030 and at least every five year thereafter and more often if clear from new scientific findings, such as revised World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines.
It will be possible for member states to request that the 2030 deadline to attain the air quality limit values be postponed by up to ten years, if specific conditions are met, including when the necessary reductions can only be achieved by replacing a considerable part of the existing domestic heating systems causing the pollution exceedances.
Better protection of citizens and access to justice
Co-legislators agreed to make currently-fragmented air quality indices across the EU comparable, clear and publicly available. These indices will also provide information about symptoms associated with air pollution peaks and the associated health risks for each pollutant, including information tailored to vulnerable groups as requested by Parliament.
It was also agreed that affected citizens and environmental NGOs, should be granted access to justice to challenge the implementation of this Directive in member states, and that citizens should be entitled to compensation when their health has been damaged due to the new national rules being violated.
Air quality plans and roadmaps
In addition to air quality plans, required for those EU countries exceeding limits, all member states will have to create air quality roadmaps by 31 December 2028 that set out short- and long-term measures to comply with the new 2030 limit values as proposed by Parliament.
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After the deal was reached, rapporteur Javi López (S&D, ES) said: “Today’s agreement is a major step in our ongoing efforts to ensure a cleaner and healthier future for all Europeans. Parliament has played a crucial role in revising the outdated EU air quality standards, some of which were 15 to 20 years old, focusing on improved air quality monitoring near major pollution sources, protecting sensitive and vulnerable populations more robustly, and ensuring local authorities have the support they need to enforce the new standards effectively.”
Next steps
The deal still has to be adopted by Parliament and Council, after which the new law will be published in the EU Official Journal and enter into force 20 days later. EU countries will then have two years to apply the new rules.
Background
Air pollution continues to be the number one environmental cause of early death in the EU, with around 300 000 premature deaths per year (check here to see how clean the air is in European cities). In October 2022, the Commission proposed a revision of the EU air quality rules with more ambitious targets for 2030 to achieve the zero pollution objective by 2050 in line with the Zero Pollution Action Plan.
Further information
Air quality: EU Council background on deal to strengthen standards in the EU
Brussels, 20 February 2024
Today the Council presidency and the European Parliament’s representatives reached a provisional political agreement on a proposal to set EU air quality standards to be attained with the aim of achieving a zero-pollution objective, thus contributing to a toxic-free environment in the EU by 2050. It also seeks to bring EU air quality standards in line with the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations.
The agreement still needs to be confirmed by both institutions before going through the formal adoption procedure.
For the EU, the health of its citizens is a priority. This is what we have demonstrated today with this crucial agreement that will contribute to achieve the EU’s zero-pollution ambition by 2050. The new rules will drastically improve the quality of the air we breathe and help us effectively tackle air pollution, thus reducing premature deaths and health related risks.
Alain Maron, minister of the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, responsible for climate change, environment, energy and participatory democracy
Main elements of the agreement
Strengthening air quality standards
With the new rules, the co-legislators agreed to set out enhanced EU air quality standards for 2030 in the form of limit and target values that are closer to the WHO guidelines and that will be regularly reviewed. The revised directive covers a host of air-polluting substances, including fine particles and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), benzo(a)pyrene, arsenic, lead and nickel, among others, and establishes specific standards for each one of them. For instance, the annual limit values for the pollutants with the highest documented impact on human health, PM2.5 and NO2, would be reduced from 25 µg/m³ to 10 µg/m³ and from 40 µg/m³ to 20 µg/m³ respectively.
The provisional agreement provides member states with the possibility to request, by 31 January 2029 and for specific reasons and under strict conditions, a postponement of the deadline for attaining the air quality limit values:
- until no later than 1 January 2040 for areas where compliance with the directive by the deadline would prove unachievable due to specific climatic and orographic conditions or where the necessary reductions can only be achieved with significant impact on existing domestic heating systems
- until no later than 1 January 2035 (with possibility to extend it by two more years) if projections show that the limit values cannot be achieved by the attainment deadline.
To request these postponements, member states will have to include air quality projections in their air quality roadmaps (to be established by 2028) demonstrating that the exceedance will be kept as short as possible and that the limit value will be met by the end of the postponement period at the latest. During the period of postponement, member states will also have to regularly update their roadmaps and report on their implementation.
Air quality roadmaps, plans and short-term action plans
In cases where a limit or target value is exceeded or there is a concrete risk of exceeding the alert or information thresholds for certain pollutants, the text requires member states to establish:
- an air quality roadmap ahead of the deadline if between 2026 and 2029 the level of pollutants exceeds the limit or target value to be attained by 2030
- air quality plans for areas where the levels of pollutants exceed the limit and target values set out in the directive after the deadline
- short-term action plans setting out emergency measures (e.g. restricting the circulation of vehicles, suspending construction works, etc.) to reduce the immediate risk to human health in areas where the alert thresholds will be exceeded
The co-legislators agreed to include softer requirements for establishing air quality and short-term action plans in cases where the potential to reduce certain pollutant concentrations is severely limited due to local geographical and meteorological conditions. When it comes to ozone, in cases where there is no significant potential to reduce ozone concentrations at local or regional level, the co-legislators agreed to exempt member states from establishing air quality plans, on the condition that they provide the Commission and the public with a detailed justification for such exemption.
Review clause
The provisionally agreed text calls on the European Commission to review the air quality standards by 2030 and every five years thereafter, in order to assess options for alignment with the recent WHO guidelines and the latest scientific evidence. In its review, the Commission should also assess other provisions of the directive, including those on postponement of the attainment deadlines and on transboundary pollution.
Based on its review, the Commission should then put forward proposals to revise air quality standards, include other pollutants and/or propose further action to be taken at EU level.
Access to justice and right to compensation
The proposed directive sets out provisions to ensure access to justice for those who have a sufficient interest and want to challenge its implementation, including public health and environmental NGOs. Any administrative or judicial review procedure should be fair, timely and not prohibitively expensive, and practical information on this procedure should be made publicly available.
Under the new rules, member states would have to ensure that citizens are entitled to claim and obtain compensation where damage to their health has occurred as a result of an intentional or negligent violation of the national rules transposing certain provisions of the directive.
The text as amended by the co-legislators also clarifies and expands the requirements for member states to establish effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties for those who infringe the measures adopted to implement the directive. As applicable, they will have to take into account the severity and duration of the infringement, whether it is recurrent, and the individuals and environment affected by it, as well as the real or estimated economic benefits derived from the infringement.
Infographic – Air pollution in the EU: facts and figures: See full infographic
Next steps
The provisional agreement will now be submitted to the member states’ representatives within the Council (Coreper) and to the Parliament’s environment committee for endorsement. If approved, the text will then need to be formally adopted by both institutions, following revision by lawyer-linguists, before it can be published in the EU’s Official Journal and enter into force. Member states will have two years after the entry into force to transpose the directive into national law.
Background
Despite major improvements in air quality in the EU over the past three decades, air pollution continues to be the number one environmental cause of premature death. It disproportionally affects vulnerable groups such as children, elderly people and people with pre-existing conditions, as well as socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. It also has a negative impact on the environment, causing damage to ecosystems and biodiversity.
To address air pollution, the EU has two ambient air quality directives, dating from 2004 and 2008. The revision of those directives was put forward by the European Commission in October 2022, as an integral part of the EU’s zero pollution action plan in the framework of the European Green Deal. Under this action plan, the Commission undertook to revise the EU’s air quality standards to align them more closely with the WHO’s recommendations.
The Commission proposal updates and merges the two existing directives and introduces the zero-pollution objective for air, to be achieved by 2050. The Commission proposal also sets interim 2030 targets that are closer to the WHO guidelines. According to the initial proposal, the standards set will be regularly reviewed until 2050, in order to assess whether they need to be adapted or whether other pollutants also need to be covered. The proposal also aims to strengthen air quality monitoring, modelling and plans.
The European Parliament adopted its position in September 2023, while the Council agreed its negotiating mandate at Coreper level in November 2023. The Parliament’s rapporteur for this file was Javi López.
- Council negotiating mandate on the revised air quality directive
- Air quality: Council ready to start talks with Parliament on new rules to strengthen standards in the EU (press release, 9 November 2023)
- Commission proposal for a directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe
- Air quality (background information)
- European Green Deal (background information)
EU Commission welcomes provisional agreement for cleaner air in the EU
Brussels, 20 February 2024
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This agreement represents a milestone for zero pollution, a cleaner and healthier Europe. The revised law puts in place the standards and the trajectory we need to protect our health and the environment from polluted air. This will especially benefit vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly, and bring us closer to our target: a Europe where pollution is an issue of the past and clean air our future reality.