IP/01/647
Brussels, 7 May 2001
Commission
programme
launches
“Clean
Air
for
Europe”
The European Commission today adopted the “Clean Air for Europe”
programme, which will lead to an integrated strategy to effectively combat air
pollution by 2004. Besides marking a major further step in the EU’s effort to
ensure that all European citizens can breathe clean air, this is also the first of
the thematic strategies announced in the Commission’s proposal for a 6th
Environmental Action Programme. Recent studies, such as the ones carried
out under the Auto-Oil II Programme finalised last year, have revealed the
considerable success that air quality policy has already had in reducing
emissions to the benefit of human health and the environment, but more
needs to be done. The new programme aims to integrate the work being done
at several levels in an over-arching strategy. Many of the existing air quality
directives come up for revision by 2004, and the Commission considers that
an integrated programme is the best way to prepare for this, and it is in this
context that it is launching the "Clean Air for Europe" programme in order to
tackle these challenges in the most efficient way. “The Clean Air for Europe
programme shows how we want to work with Member States and all
stakeholders in developing a thematic strategy. We proposed a number of
such strategies in the 6th Action Programme three months ago and we are
making a start now on the first of them” said Environment Commissioner
Margot Wallström.
The Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) programme will provide the framework within which
new air quality standards and national emission ceilings will be set. It will focus
especially on particulate matter1 and ground-level ozone2, which have been identified
as the air pollutants of greatest concern (as distinct from climate change and
pollution by man made chemicals). In addition, CAFE will need to address remaining
problems relating to acidification, eutrophication and damage to buildings; keep a
watchful eye for emerging problems related to currently unregulated pollutants; and
pay attention to remaining exceedances of limit values in “hot-spot” areas where
emission densities are especially high.
1
Particulate matter is emitted directly into the atmosphere from a variety of (mostly
combustion-related) stationary and mobile sources, but particles also form in the
atmosphere from gaseous pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SO x) and (NH3)
2
Ground-level ozone is formed in the atmosphere by the reaction of pollutants such as NO x
and VOCs in the presence of sunlight.
Commissioner Wallström underlined: “We have come a long way in reducing air
pollution, but we have not yet achieved our final objective, that is to make sure that
everybody in Europe, even those who are particularly vulnerable to bad air, can
breathe freely without being concerned about their health. Clean Air for Europe
should provide us the means for attaining this objective.”
The output of CAFE will be a thematic strategy to be adopted in 2004. This strategy
will contain:

an in-depth review of the adequacy and effectiveness of existing Community
legislation;
 detailed reference to available air quality and deposition data and indicators for
public information;
 an analysis of the further emission reduction measures that will be required to
meet air quality deposition objectives;
 proposals concerning new or revised directives on air quality and national
emission ceilings,
 a status report on measures to reduce emissions from specific source
categories, such as large combustion plants and motor vehicles, and a steer for
their further development.
CAFE will prepare the ground for this by providing a structure that allows relevant
scientific and technical information - evidence on effects, emission inventories and
projections, cost-effectiveness studies for potential abatement measures - to be
collected and packaged in a way that is useful for policy makers. As well as
preparing for legislative review and the development of measures to reduce
emissions from specific source categories, the programme will provide a framework
for supporting the implementation of existing legislation and evaluating how effective
it is in actually reducing air pollution. Through the development and use of indicators
and improved accessibility of data it will provide a concrete focus for the sectoral
integration strategies and a better means of communication with the general public.
CAFE will co-operate closely with other international programmes involved in the
fight against air pollution, notably the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe’s Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (UN/ECE
CLRTAP). Transparency, stakeholder involvement and cost-effectiveness will
continue to be guiding principles for EU air quality policy.
“Transparency, stakeholder involvement and cost-effectiveness will continue to be
guiding principles for EU air quality policy”, stressed Commissioner Wallström.
BACKGROUND
Particulate matter and ground-level ozone
Particulate matter and ozone have been identified as headline priorities because of
their effect on human health and the environment, the scientific complexities and
uncertainties associated with them, and the inadequacy of currently agreed
measures to tackle them successfully.
2
There is a growing body of evidence showing that even small concentrations of tiny
dust particles adversely effect human health, causing premature deaths and
reducing quality of life by aggravating respiratory conditions such as asthma. And
while ozone in the upper atmosphere provides an essential screen against the sun’s
most harmful rays, at ground level it is another lung irritant causing many of the
same health effects as particulate matter as well as attacking vegetation, forests and
buildings.
Since the precise mechanisms by which particles attack human health are still not
known, it is unclear which size and type of particles are the most dangerous. For
both particulate and ozone there are complexities related to the formation, reactivity
and transport of the pollutant in the atmosphere, making accurate forecasting
difficult. But for both pollutants it seems clear that currently agreed measures will not
be sufficient to bring concentrations down to a safe level.
EU air quality policy
EU air quality policy up to now has consisted of four strands:

the adoption of a series of directives setting binding limit and target values for
ambient air quality;
 the setting of national emission ceilings for certain pollutants in a directive that
is in the process of final adoption in the Council of Ministers and the European
Parliament;
 a series of ever stricter vehicle emission and fuel quality standards in
connection with the Auto Oil-programmes;
 emissions standards for other sectors including limit values for large
combustion plants, incinerators and solvent-using industries, and the general
requirement to use best available techniques for the operation of the large
industrial installations.
Many of the existing air quality directives contain clauses requiring them to be
reviewed by 2004, and the Commission considers that an integrated programme is
the best way to prepare for this. The intention is that CAFE will evolve into an
ongoing, cyclical programme, of which 2004 will only be the first milestone.
3