Month: December 2020

Photo: Court of Justice of the European Union The European Commission referred two member countries from the Balkans to the Court of Justice of the European Union for breaches in air pollution. Greece and Bulgaria don’t comply with limit values for particulate matter PM10. The EU also reprimanded them for their track record in environmental protection and also called on 13 member states and the UK to submit long-term building renovation strategies. The European Commission said it launched procedures before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) against Bulgaria and Greece, citing excessive air pollution. The same judicial institution ruled in May against Romania over air pollution in its capital city. Of note, Bucharest and Sofia are in the group of European cities with the highest health-related social costs of air pollution. The government in Sofia failed to ensure full compliance with the court’s judgement from April 2017, which found that it had breached its obligations under the EU Directive 2008/50/EC...

National measures to cut air pollution would benefit from stronger links with climate action, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). In their latest briefing, the EEA presented an overview of the latest policies and measures reported by Member States to tackle air pollution, as required under the National Emission reduction Commitments (NEC) Directive.  Policies to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOX), particulate matter (PM2.5) and ammonia (NH3) mainly focus on the agriculture, transport and energy sectors.  However, the briefing shows that the Member States have identified about one-third of their air pollution policies should have links with national policies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, which are reported under the Regulation on a mechanism for monitoring and reporting greenhouse gas emissions.  According to the Briefing, it is vital to seek coherence across climate change mitigation and air pollution.  Promoting consistency in reporting policies and measures on air pollution, energy and climate change can reduce red tape, foster policy coherence and support the identification of synergies across efforts...