MEPs support new national caps on air pollutants

Plans for ambitious new national caps on key air pollutants to be put in place by 2030 have been supported by the European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg for its plenary session on Wednesday.

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) voted 499 in favor to 177 against, with 28 abstentions, for the plans which aim to put national ceilings on nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulates and sulphur dioxide, and which had already been informally agreed to with the Dutch Presidency of the European Council.

According to the European Commission, air pollution caused over 400,000 premature deaths in the European Union (EU) in 2010 and exposed over 62 percent of EU territory to eutrophication. Total external costs are in the range of 330-940 billion euros(349.41-992.44 billion U.S. dollars) per year, including direct economic damage of 15 billion euros from lost workdays, 4 billion euros in healthcare costs, 3 billion euros in crop yield loss and 1 billion euros in damage to buildings.

"Air pollution is the number one environmental cause of death in the EU", said lead MEP Julie Girling.

"The political backdrop has changed dramatically over the course of the last three years, with the issue of air quality coming up the public agenda to an unprecedented level, in combination with the VW scandal and the issue of real driving emissions. Perhaps there is also the recognition that we have spent the last decade concentrating so much on CO2, that we neglected air quality", she added. Girling went on to point out that while the plans do not represent a perfect solution, they will be a substantial step in the right direction.

The European Greens, however, criticized the resolution, however, noting in a press release that they found the final agreement to be significantly weaker than the original proposal by the European Commission.

"This is a missed opportunity to finally get serious about the crisis in public health caused by poor air quality," declared Bas Eickhout, environment and health spokesperson for the Greens. "We are left with final legislation that is substantially weaker than the Commission's original proposal and is behind the position voted for by the European Parliament on timelines of binding limits and curbing farming related air pollutants."

Jens Gieseke, MEP in charge of the National Emissions Ceilings (NEC) directive for the European People's Party group, praised the resolution as providing "ambitious, but realistic standards."

The new rules establish national commitments for emission reductions for sulphur dioxide, NOx, non-methane volatile organic compounds, ammonia, and fine particulates (less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter).

According to the European Environment Agency, the sources of these pollutants come from various sources: particulate matter (PM) is emitted mainly by heating, industry and transport; NOx mainly by transport; SOx mostly from energy-production and non-road transport; almost all NH3 emissions come from agriculture; CO emissions come from heating and transport; and most methane (CH4) comes from agriculture, waste and energy sectors.

The proposed cuts are expected to reduce health impacts from air pollution by 50 percent by 2030. Enditem