Raad voor milieu heeft politieke overeenstemming bereikt over richtlijn luchtkwaliteit (en)
The Council reached a political agreement on the new directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe today in Luxembourg in the first formal Environment Council under the Finnish presidency.
"This is a very clear signal to the European citizens of our commitment to combat air pollution and the related health risks. At the same time we do recognize that this is the first step of a continuing process and that further efforts are needed to reduce emissions and to reach long-term air quality objectives throughout the Community", stresses the President of the Council, Mr Jan-Erik Enestam, the Finnish Minister for the Environment.
The major new element in the directive is the introduction of a binding limit value (25 mg/m3) on airborne concentrations of harmful fine dust particles (known as PM2.5), which contribute to the premature death of around 350,000 people in the EU each year. The member states should implement this limit value no later than in the beginning of the year 2015. The directive also sets national PM2,5 exposure reduction targets for the years 2010-2020. In the most polluted areas the reduction target for the years 2010-2020 will be 20 percent. For areas where the air quality is better the target will be lower. Specific targets for individual Member States will be defined later and they shall be based on actual measured concentrations at urban background areas, which are representative of the exposure of the general population.
The Directive allows a certain amount of flexibility related to the attainment of the limit values, where the Member States have taken all reasonable measures to implement the Community legislation but are nevertheless unable to comply with air quality standards in certain places. Such derogations are limited to PM10 limit values, nitrogen dioxide and benzene and they may only be granted under strict conditions for a limited period of time. Relating to PM10 limit values there is the possibility for a three year extension time from the entry into force of the new Directive. For nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and benzene the extension period is five years.
It is important to support the implementation of the Air Quality Directive and the attainment of the air quality objectives with sufficient emission control measures at the local, national and Community level. In the Council meeting the Commission announced that it will propose new limit values for heavy duty vehicles (Euro VI) next year and that the Euro 6 limit values for passenger cars will be included in the Euro 5 directive currently under discussion in the Council and European Parliament. The Commission also promised to come up with other relevant legislative initiatives.
Conclusions for the 8th Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention
Relating to the Basel Convention, all but one of the Member States supported the Presidency conclusions on the preparations for the 8th Conference of the Parties of the Basel Convention in Nairobi in the end of November. The presidency conclusions stress the importance of strict enforcement of existing Community legislation on transboundary shipments of waste and call for better coherence between the maritime and environmental legislations and administrations to prevent illegal shipments of hazardous waste such as the recent illegal dumping of waste in the Ivory Coast.
The conclusions also call for efficient international legislation to improve the current unacceptable way of the dismantling of end-of-life ships. An international instrument on recycling of ships is currently being negotiated with the IMO. The council conclusions also welcome the Commission's intention to work towards an EU-wide strategy on ship dismantling.
The case in the Ivory Coast also stresses the need for increased capacity building in developing countries so that they could better prevent illegal import and disposal of hazardous waste.
Conclusions on climate change
The Council also adopted conclusions on climate change, which convey the EU's messages to other Parties to the Climate Convention and its Kyoto Protocol just two weeks before important climate sessions will be opened in Nairobi. Many of the negotiation items that should be decided in Nairobi are of particular importance to developing countries. The Council Conclusions stress the EU's positive approach to these issues, such as five-year work programme on adaptation, Adaptation Fund, technology transfer and efforts to further strengthen the CDM.
The Council also looks forward to making progress in further developing the basis for the common global efforts to address climate change. It welcomes the successful start of the work on two "tracks" under the Montreal Action Plan launched last December: the dialogue of all Parties to the Climate Convention on long-term cooperative action to address climate change and negotiations of the Ad Hoc Working Group on further commitments of the developed country parties to the Kyoto Protocol. The Council looks forward to making progress on both these "tracks" in Nairobi. The Council also stresses the importance of the review of the Kyoto Protocol, which is the third "track" and according to Article 9 of the Protocol, should be carried out in Nairobi.
The Council also had a policy debate on the Thematic Strategy on the Protection and Conservation of the Marine Environment and the Directive relating to it. On this issue, the Presidency presented questions to the Member States for seeking to clarify the concept of "Good Environmental Status" and regional co-operation.
The Council also adopted conclusions on the Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. The objective of the Strategy is to diminish the negative environmental impacts of resource use in a growing economy.
The strategy proposes activities on gathering knowledge and improving the data on negative environmental impacts of resource use. Based on this data the Commission will develop monitoring, networking and indicators.The conclusions include a roadmap for setting targets. The intention is that the Member States and the Commission set targets on eco-efficiency and resource-specific impacts in key sectors by the year 2010. On the global level the Strategy proposes to set up a panel on natural resources similar to the International Panel on Climate Change.
For more information:
Ms. Tuula Varis, Counsellor, the Permanent Representation of Finland, tel. +32 478 629 994
Ms. Camilla Lommi-Lippola, Counsellor, the Perm. Representation of Finland, tel. +32 476 599 917
Ms. Tarja Lahtinen, Senior Advisor, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 50 362 2068 (Air)
Ms. Outi Berghäll, Director, Ministry of the Environment, tel. +358 9 1603 9313 (Climate)
Presidency Statements. Minister of the Environment, Mr. Jan-Erik Enestam