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Air QualityEU sets standards to protect human health.
The Ambient Air Quality Directives are a set of regulations that establish EU air quality standards for various pollutants. These standards cover pollutants such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, ozone, benzene, lead, carbon monoxide, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, and benzo(a)pyrene. The Directives incorporate guidelines from the World Health Organization and aim to ensure the monitoring, assessment, and dissemination of reliable and comparable information on air quality.
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Member States are required to maintain a high-quality monitoring network consisting of over 4,000 air quality monitoring stations. If air pollutant levels exceed the established limit or target values, Member States must develop air quality plans or programs to address the sources of pollution and minimize exceedance periods. The objective is to protect human health and the environment by reducing the harmful effects of air pollution.
Although progress has been made in reducing air pollutant exceedances, challenges still remain. The Ambient Air Quality Directives aim to continue improving air quality and reducing the number of people exposed to pollution. The ultimate goal is to safeguard human health and the environment from the adverse impacts of poor air quality.
Although progress has been made in reducing air pollutant exceedances, challenges still remain. The Ambient Air Quality Directives aim to continue improving air quality and reducing the number of people exposed to pollution. The ultimate goal is to safeguard human health and the environment from the adverse impacts of poor air quality.
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Recast of Air Directive
On 26 October 2022, as part of the European Green Deal, the Commission proposed to revise the Ambient Air Quality Directives. The revision aligns the air quality standards more closely with the recommendations of the World Health Organization (see the latest WHO Air Quality Guidelines, published on 22 September 2021). For example, the annual limit value for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) will be reduced by more than half.
The proposal aims to:
The proposal aims to:
- puts the EU on track to achieve zero pollution for air by 2050
- foresees a regular review of the air quality standards, in line with latest scientific evidence
- further improves the legal framework, providing more clarity on access to justice, damage redress, effective penalties, and better public information on air quality
- will better support local authorities in achieving cleaner air by strengthening air quality monitoring, modelling, and air quality plans
- merges the current two Directives into one and streamlines provisions to clarify and simplify the rules
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