[autom.vertaling] Vechtende ozonverontreiniging: De Commissie stemt in met overeenkomst in de nodig Raad maar verdere actie (en)
The European Commission welcomed a political agreement reached in today's Environment Council which will help fight ozone pollution in Europe. The Council agreed on the Commission's proposal to limit emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from organic solvents in paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products. This proposal is important as VOCs are one of the contributors to the formation of ground-level ozone when the weather is hot and sunny. Ozone damages the environment and poses a serious threat to human health - especially to vulnerable groups like the elderly. This summer's heat wave lead to the highest number of ozone incidents(1) experienced in Europe for a decade, according to a recently published report by the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Welcoming the agreement, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström emphasised the necessity of continued efforts to combat ozone pollution: "EU legislation aimed at reducing the number of ozone incidents in Europe has already started producing results. The trend is that peak ozone levels are becoming lower. However, in order to avoid ozone-incidents we need to continue reducing the emissions which create ozone: namely Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Nitrogenoxides (NOX). There are no quick-fix solutions and we still have a long way to go. But this Proposal is an urgently needed step towards achieving our objective of reducing the number of ozone incidents even when summer temperatures reach record levels."
According to the EEA report, this summer's exceptionally high temperatures and record hours of sunlight contributed to creating a record high number of exceedances of EU thresholds values(2).
The Commission proposal on which Council agreed today adds a product-oriented approach to the ongoing efforts to reduce ozone levels by setting limit values for the solvent content in paints and varnishes.
It targets paints that are used for buildings and in vehicle refinishing products. The VOC content of the products used must be clearly shown on product labels and not exceed permitted limit values.
Member States must ensure that limit values are respected, set up a monitoring programme to ensure correct implementation and report regularly to the Commission on how implementation is progressing.
The Directive aims to help Member States meet the commitment that they made under the National Emissions Ceiling (NEC) Directive(3), namely to significantly reduce VOC emissions by 2010.
The new proposal on VOCs in paints Directive adds another weapon to the growing armoury of EU ozone-combating legislation that includes - in addition to the NEC Directive - the IPPC Directive, the Large Combustion Plants Directive, the "Auto Oil" legislation and the Non-road Mobile Machinery Directive that was adopted last week. The bulk of this legislation will, however, only take full effect in the years to come, due to long lead times for the implementation of the requirements.
To consult the EEA's press release on the report "Air pollution by ozone in Europe in summer 2003: an overview of excess EU zone threshold values during the summer season April-August 2003 and comparisons with previous years" visit the following web-site:
<A onclick="popup(this.onclick="popup(this.href+'&noframes=1',0,0);return false" href+'&noframes=1',0,0);return false" HREF="http://www.eea.eu.int">http://www.eea.eu.int
For more information about EU action to improve air quality, see
<A onclick="popup(this.onclick="popup(this.href+'&noframes=1',0,0);return false" href+'&noframes=1',0,0);return false" HREF="http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/air_en.htm">http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/air_en.htm ;
(1)Number of days on which ozone levels exceede EU ozone threshold values
(2)EU legislation on ozone pollution was established in 1992 by directive 92/72/EEC. This was replaced on 9 September 2003 by directive 2002/3/EC on ozone in ambient air. Under the new legislation, the ozone concentration above which brief exposure is considered to pose a health risk for the general population has been tightened from 360µg/m3, averaged over one hour, to 240µg/m3. Governments are required to inform the public whenever the threshold of 180 µg/m3 is breached.
(3)Directive 2001/81/EC on National Emission Ceilings for certain pollutants (NECs)
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