Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-10-Speech-1-089"
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"en.20071210.17.1-089"2
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"Mr President, I am taking this file on behalf of my colleague, Commissioner Dimas, who is at the Bali Conference.
The significance of the introduction of a new, legally binding exposure concentration already in 2015 cannot be overstated. While the new exposure-reduction approach already provides the flexibility for the Member States to most effectively maximise public health benefits of their abatement efforts, the new legal obligation and its relatively short time for implementation ensure that the Member States will take prompt action and seriously address the reduction of population exposure to fine particles.
I am very pleased to acknowledge the specific importance the committee attached to sensitive groups, including children. The additions will support the appropriate consideration of sensitive groups in designing the abatement measures.
With this important piece of legislation, the European Union will stand ready to continue to effectively reduce and minimise the significant adverse effects of air pollution. The Commission is actively supporting the process through the development of Community measures and through its continuous support to the implementation of the directives by the Member States by providing guidance and facilitating the exchange between the Member States.
I wish to begin by thanking and congratulating the rapporteur, Mr Krahmer, for his excellent work on the ambient air quality directive, and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, in particular the shadow rapporteurs, for their positive contribution.
Bringing the proposal to this stage has not been an easy journey. The European Parliament has played a constructive role in working towards an agreement on a sound and effective text. I should like to express the Commission’s appreciation for this.
In the preparation of the Commission proposal, as well as during the negotiations, we have been clearly guided by the scientific evidence on the importance of the continuous effort to improve air quality, and specifically on the need to address the fine particles (PM
). On average, the life expectancy of EU citizens is reduced by more than eight months due to air pollution. This is unacceptable, and we need to do more.
Only limited improvements in air quality have been achieved in the past few years in the EU, and the attainability of the PM
as well as the existing standards, has been at the centre of the debate.
Further measures are clearly needed at Community, national, regional and local levels. The Community measures addressing emissions at source have been outlined in the thematic strategy on air pollution. We are well on track with the development and adoption of these measures. The last progress update can also be found in the declaration adjoined to the compromise package. The Commission and Parliament share a common understanding on the importance of these measures to achieve an effective reduction of emissions.
The main features of the directive are the following. The directive maintains the existing limit and target values, while allowing for some time to achieve full compliance in specific zones, provided that certain conditions are fulfilled. The compromise text ensures that the postponement is limited and does not create incentives to delay the measures that need to be taken. As air knows no borders, those measures will support the efforts to achieve compliance, also in the neighbouring regions and states.
As regards the PM
annual limit value, I understand the ambition behind the committee’s proposal to threaten this. The scientific evidence, however, states that, for chronic exposure, the fine PM
sub-fraction of PM
is the most important, so the Commission has proposed leaving the PM
limit value unchanged and addressing this ambition through the new PM
objectives. PM
standards will be fully reassessed at the review in 2013 to ensure that the latest scientific knowledge and the implementation experience are properly reflected in the standards.
Setting timely, realistic, yet ambitious objectives for PM
has been the main challenge in the negotiation. The compromise package sets out very clear commitments in the text of the review article, demonstrating that a more ambitious annual limit value will be considered as part of the mandatory review in 2013 and by setting the indicative limit value for PM
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