Activities of Sven GIEGOLD related to 2020/2091(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
Implementation of the Ambient Air Quality Directives (debate)
Implementation of the Ambient Air Quality Directives (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of the Ambient Air Quality Directives: Directive 2004/107/EC and Directive 2008/50/EC
Amendments (34)
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 a (new)
Citation 17 a (new)
- having regard to the European Commission’s report to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, “Second Clean Air Outlook” COM(2021) 3 final of 8 January 2021,
Amendment 9 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 b (new)
Citation 17 b (new)
- having regard to the study “Sampling points for air quality - Representativeness and comparability of measurement in accordance with Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe” by the European Parliament Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies for the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety,
Amendment 11 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 c (new)
Citation 17 c (new)
- having regard to the European Commission Roadmap for the Inception Impact Assessment for the revision of the AAQ Directives,
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 d (new)
Citation 17 d (new)
- having regard to the European health and safety at work policy, in particular to the European Commission Communication “Safer and Healthier Work for All” of 10 January 2017, and to Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work,
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 e (new)
Citation 17 e (new)
- having regard to the Commission Communication of 14 October 2020 “an EU strategy to reduce methane emissions”,
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 f (new)
Citation 17 f (new)
- having regard to the Directive 2010/75/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 November 2010 on industrial emissions,
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 g (new)
Citation 17 g (new)
- having regard to the European Commission Communication of 14 October 2020 on the “Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability” (2020/2531(RSP)) as well as the European Parliament resolution of 10 July on the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability,
Amendment 17 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 17 h (new)
Citation 17 h (new)
- having regard to the WHO Resolution of 26 May 2016 “Health and the environment: addressing the health impact of air pollution”,
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe2 , affecting all regions, socioeconomic and age groups unevenly, causing nearly 400 000 premature deaths per year, and is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, strokes and cancer3 ; whereas air pollution has also adverse impacts on fertility, pregnancy, newborns and children, and there is emerging evidence of links between air pollution and diabetes, obesity, systemic inflammation, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia; whereas 98 % of the EU’s urban population is exposed to ozone levels that exceed WHO guidelines; whereas 77 % of the EU-28 population is exposed to PM2.5 levels above WHO guidelines3a; _________________ 2‘Ambient Air Pollution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease’, World Health Organization, 2016. 3‘Air quality in Europe - 2020’, Report No. 09/20, European Environment Agency, 2020. 3aAir quality in Europe - 2020, Report 9/20, European Environment Agency, 2020.
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas air pollution has major negative impacts on ecosystems and is currently responsible for about two-thirds of ecosystem area in the EU being exposed to eutrophication;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas air pollution has significant human and economic costs; whereas the benefits of measures for cleaner air always override the costs; whereas, according to EU Commission estimations, the full implementation of existing EU clean air legislation could lead to net benefits of up to 42 billion EUR a year by 2030, notably from avoided mortality and morbidity1a; _________________ 1aSupport to the development of the Second Clean Air Outlook, Specific Contract 6 under Framework Contract ENV.C.3/FRA/2017/0012, Final Report.
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
B c. whereas the majority of the EU population finds public action to promote good air quality to be insufficient, and over 70% of the EU population expects the EU to propose additional measures1a; _________________ 1aCommission Staff Working Document Fitness Check of the Ambient Air Quality Directives (SWD(2019) 427 final) of 28 November 2019
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B d (new)
Recital B d (new)
B d. whereas, while the EU outdoor air quality policy framework is well structured, EU legislation covering indoor air quality is fragmented; whereas a more holistic EU policy approach to air pollution may be needed, guaranteeing that ambient air quality, health and safety at work, chemical and buildings legislation are fully coherent and mutually reinforcing in particular to ensure the safety of workers and citizens from hazardous substances in consumer products, such as textiles and cleaning materials;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recognises that whilethe three pillars of the EU clean air policy have been successful in driving a downward trend in emissions and concentrations of air pollutants in Europe, with the exception of certain pollutants, such as ammonia, the emissions of which have plateaued, and of hotspots, particularly large cities; believes, however, that much more needs to be done to achieve levels of air pollution that minimise the damage on human health and the environment, and calls for both the ambition of EU legislation and its implementation at national and local level to be urgently stepped up; recognises in particular that the EU Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directives have been effective in setting common EU air quality monitoring requirements and standards and facilitating the exchange of information on air quality, they have failed to effectively redu; stresses that these standards have been instrumental in driving a downward trend in exceedances air pollution and to curb its adverse effects;nd exposure of population to exceedances; highlights that enforcement action by the European Commission and civil society in front of national courts has resulted in actionable rulings, showing that this legislation is enforceable; however, draws attention to the fact that a high number of Member States do not comply with current air quality standards and have not taken enough action to improve air quality and keep exceedances to a minimum, even after the start of infringement proceedings by the Commission and the issuance of court orders demanding compliance with the AAQ Directives;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that AAQ Directives are based on air quality standards that are now 15 to 20 years old, and that some of them are much weaker than current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and estimated reference levels based on excess lifetime cancer risk, and the levels suggested by the latest scientific evidence on human health and environment impacts; welcomes the commitment made in the European Green Deal to revise air quality standards and align them more closely with WHO standardscalls on the Commission to fully align PM10, PM2.5, SO2 and 03 values with WHO guidelines and benzene (C6H6) and benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) values with WHO reference levels; stresses that the current mismatch between WHO recommended maximum levels of SO2 and PM10 concentrations and the EU standards, the former being six and two times lower than the latter respectively, represents a failure of the EU to fulfil its duty enshrined in the Treaties to provide a high level of protection of human health and the environment in the Union; calls on the Commission to publish a proposal for revised AAQ Directives as soon as the new WHO standards are available later in 2021; calls for the proposed revision of the AAQ Directives to include an obligation for a periodic review of the standards against the latest scientific and technical evidence, at the latest when updated WHO guidelines become available; calls on the Commission to also take into account the latest critical loads for protection of ecosystems set by the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution;
Amendment 82 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recommends that revised air quality standards should also cover other non-regulated pollutants with relevant health impacts in the EU; highlights the EU’s ambition to lead the transition to a healthy planet, and recalls that in order to become a global leader it should lead by example by adopting, inter alia, ambitious quality standards for all air pollutants; extending monitoring requirements and air quality standards to cover all pollutants with demonstrated negative health and environment impacts in the EU; in particular, calls on the Commission to introduce monitoring requirements and air quality standards for ultra-fine particles, black carbon, micro-plastics and ammonia, and to complement existing monitoring requirements for mercury with concentration standards; highlights the EU’s ambition to lead the transition to a healthy planet, and recalls that in order to become a global leader it should lead by example by adopting, inter alia, ambitious quality standards for all air pollutants; notes that the great majority of infringement procedures launched by the EU Commission thus far pertains to exceedances of limit values, which shows that limit values have been the most enforceable elements of the AAQ Directive; calls on the Commission to propose the replacement of the current target values (O3, As, Cd, Ni and BaP) with limit values; points to the fact that yearly standards allow spikes in pollutant concentrations to go unnoticed, particularly in the case of PM 2.5; calls on the Commission to propose complementing yearly PM2.5 standards with daily and hourly limit values;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the need to guarantee that air quality is being measured by the Member States in appropriate locations and at emissions sources, in order to avoid underestimation of air pollution; calls on the Member States to improve their monitoring networks, and on the Commission to enforce the obligations of the Directive in this regard, including by providing immediate support to Member States in setting up monitoring stations, the training and hiring of experts, and ensuring greater accuracy in inspection, control and monitoring; points to the need for proper measurement across Europe of the air quality close to airports and ports, to improve the understanding of the impact of air and waterborne transport on air pollution; stresses that, the fact that Member States can choose the monitoring sites from which they communicate data to the EEA, can also lead to potential underestimation of air pollutant concentrations;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Acknowledges the fact that Member States have established an air quality monitoring network based on common criteria defined by the AAQ Directives, with more than 4 000 monitoring stations and 16 000 sampling points; points out that site location provisions involve multiple criteria and offer a degree of flexibility which can make verification more difficult, and which often generate data that doess situations in which monitoring networks in cities do not provide information on locations where the highest concentrations of air pollutants occur; urges the Commission to review and establish new mandatory rules for locating monitoring stations and sampling points, creating the risk that exceedances of limit values go unnoticed; urges the Commission to provide immediate guidance to Member States, through an implementing act in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2008/50/EC, on how to set up their monitoring networks, without waiting for the revision of the AAQ Directives, as announced in the Fitness Check and in the Green Deal Communication; calls on the Commission, in the framework of the proposals for revised AAQ Directives, to review and establish new mandatory rules for locating monitoring stations and sampling points, building inter alia on the guidance provided in the implementing act, so as to guarantee accurate and consistent air quality monitoring;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the AAQ Directives do not focus on reducing emissions in places where people suffer most from air pollution, or where concentrations are highest, and that concrete action in this area is needed; notes that lower socio- economic groups are more exposed to air pollution because they are more likely to live close to sources of heavy pollution, both outdoor, such as traffic and industrial areas, and indoor, such as the combustion of low-quality solid fuels for domestic heating; underlines in this regard the need to better reflect human exposure to air pollution in EU law, and urges the Commission to include new indicators in air quality indices, such as population density around monitoring stations and sampling points; stresses, however, that these new indicators, and potential exposure reduction targets, should be additional to, and not substitute, limit values, which have proven to be the most effective and enforceable standards so far, and that the same air quality standards must apply across Europe;
Amendment 129 #
8. Notes that confinement measures to control the spread of the pandemic led to a drastic decrease in emissions and air pollution, thus clearly showing the impact of human activities on the environment; notes with regret that continuous exposure to air pollution may worsen the impact of respiratory virudiseases such as COVID-19; underlines that fighting air pollution must be at the core of the EU recovery plan, and that mandatory and effectively enforced air quality requirements are key to guaranteeing citizens’ health and improving their resilience against future health threatsis concerned with the risk that pollution may bounce back to pre- lock-down levels or, worse, to even higher levels, and cautions against the postponement or cancellation of local measures aimed to reduce air pollution, particularly from road traffic; points that fighting climate change by transitioning from fossil fuel combustion in power plants and transport to renewable energy brings added value also through the reduction of air pollution; underlines that fighting air pollution must be at the core of the EU recovery plan, and that mandatory and effectively enforced air quality requirements are key to guaranteeing citizens’ health and improving their resilience against future health threats; urges Member States to step up the ambition of their clean air policies, including through the targeted use of funding from the EU National Recovery and Resilience Facility; urges the Commission to ensure that in line with the ‘do no significant harm principle’ no funding from the National Recovery and Resilience Plans will be spent on activities that lead to a significant increase in the emissions of pollutants into air, water or land and to make approval of the Plans conditional on their alignment with the zero pollution ambition of the European Green Deal;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the announcement of the Commission’s Zero Pollution Action Plan; emphasises that air pollution is a burden that requires a holistic approach; alerts that any new measures will be worthless if air quality is not properly prioritised and mainstreamed in all EU policies, including EU emission source legislation, such as on climate, energy, transport, industry, agriculture and waste, while ensuring that there are no contradictions and better synergies between all policy areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to cooperate more closely in all areas and at all levels in order to help local authorities achieve cleaner air; points to the growing link between air pollution and climate change, as shown by growing ozone concentrations triggered by temperatures rise and more recurrent heat waves; highlights the need to more seriously regulate emissions of methane and black carbon, which contribute to both air pollution and global warming; welcomes the recently published “EU strategy to reduce methane emissions”, however encourages the Commission to step up its ambition particularly in terms of action to minimise emissions, especially from agriculture and waste;
Amendment 164 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Commission and the Member States to strengthen all emissions legislation; underlines that reducing emissions at source is the only effective way to guarantee calerts that most Member States will not comply with their 2020 and 2030 emissions reduction commitments established under the NEC directive; regrets that almost all Member States have failed to implement sufficient measures to comply with their 2020 obligations; is concerned that compared to the latest available data of 2018, 10 Member States needed to reduce their ammonia emissions by up to 10% in less than 2 years and for PM2.5 and NOx, 6 and 5 Member States, respectively, needed to reduce their emissions by up to 30% or more to comply with the 2020 ceilings1a; calls on the Commission to rapidly start infringement procedures to enforce the emission reduction commitments; concurs with the findings of the Second Clean aAir; alerts that most Outlook that the 15 Member States willat risk of not complying with their 2020 and 2030 emissions reduction commitments established under the NEC directive; stresses the need for stringent measures to reduce transport emissions, particularly road and maritime transport, aviation, industrial installations, agriculture and energy production; 2030 ammonia reduction commitments should take immediate additional action; calls on the Commission to start infringement procedures in case the national air pollution control programmes are not promptly aligned with the objectives of the Directive; stresses that, even if the 2030 NEC Directive objectives were met, there would still be 250.000 premature deaths due to air pollution and widespread exposure of sensitive ecosystems to excess nitrogen depositions; calls, therefore, on the Commission to revise the NEC Directive and strengthen its emission reduction commitments for 2030 and to also look beyond 2030, setting the target of zero anthropogenic emissions of pollutants by 2050; calls to add methane, mercury and black carbon to the list of pollutants covered by the NEC Directive; regrets the flexibility mechanism introduced under Article 5 of the NEC Directive; highlights that in 2018, 11 Member States requested adjustments to their national emission ceilings1b; is particularly concerned that Member States use the flexibility mechanism to hide NOx emissions of non-compliant diesel vehicles; calls on the Commission to limit the use of emission inventory adjustment to the strict minimum and to consider whether Member States have taken action to compensate for possible unforeseen emissions from certain sectors before applying for an adjustment of emission inventories; _________________ 1a Second Clean Air Outlook, European Commission, 2021. 1bEuropean Parliament resolution of 13 March 2019 on a Europe that protects: Clean air for all.
Amendment 172 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Urges the Commission and the Member States to strengthen all emissions regulation, underlines that reducing emissions at source is the only effective way to guarantee clean air; stresses the need for stringent measures for transport emissions, particularly road and maritime transport and aviation, industrial installations, agriculture and energy production; highlights that these measures must draw a clear pathway towards zero emissions and zero pollution from all these sectors;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Amendment 180 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 c (new)
Paragraph 10 c (new)
10 c. Recalls that road transport, particularly diesel vehicles, is the main source of NOx in Europe; emphasises that, besides being among the air pollutants with the highest negative impacts on the human respiratory system, NOx is a major contributor to ecosystem damages, particularly through eutrophication and acidification, causing loss of biodiversity; deeply regrets that there are still 50 million Euro 5 and Euro 6 vehicles on European roads which can emit up to 20 times above the legal limits1a, contributing to NOx exceedances in more than 130 cities in the EU; calls for the swift withdrawal and, where possible, retrofit of non-compliant diesel cars, and stresses that these operations should be financed by non-compliant car manufacturers; stresses that the export of diesel vehicles without retrofitting the non-functioning emissions control system must be prevented; calls for the conclusion of an ambitious deal on Real Driving Emissions test measures; stresses that upcoming new EU emission standards should define a roadmap to zero-pollution and zero-emission road transport, regulating all pollutants; calls for the adoption of an end date for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars no later than 2030; calls for more ambitious EU zero-emission public procurement requirements, with the goal of ensuring 100% zero-emission vehicle fleets by 2030 at the latest; calls on local authorities to devise sustainable urban plans encouraging walking and cycling, the use of public transport, of shared, sustainable mobility solutions and of zero-emission vehicles, and discouraging car commuting; welcomes local initiatives such as Low Emission Zones, which should be enlarged to all areas with certain population density, and further developed into Zero Emission Zones; recalls that surface abrasion of catalytic converters results in the release of platinum, rhodium and palladium; _________________ 1aDirty diesels grow to 51 million across EU, as carmakers still put profit before clean air, Transport & Environment, 2019
Amendment 184 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 d (new)
Paragraph 10 d (new)
10 d. recalls that tyre wear generates more than 500,000 tonnes of microplastics in the EU per year and that more than 25,000 tonnes of these microplastics are released as PM10 into our air1a; recalls that tyres consist not only of rubber but also of a blend of different materials and chemicals, which can also include endocrine disruptors, carcinogens and mutagens, which, due to abrasion, ultimately end up in our nature and water cycles and can cause health threats; urges the Commission to adopt a delegated act amending Regulation (EU) 2020/740 as soon as possible, in order to include parameters or information requirements for tyre abrasion and mileage; urges the Commission to set binding abrasion standards for tyres and ban the most polluting tyres, as soon as reliable, accurate and reproducible methods to test and measure tyre abrasion and mileage are available for use by European or international standardisation organisations; _________________ 1aInvestigating options for reducing releases in the aquatic environment of microplastics emitted by (but not intentionally added in) products, ICF & Eunomia, 2018
Amendment 186 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 e (new)
Paragraph 10 e (new)
10 e. highlights that air and waterborne transport are also important sources of air and noise pollution, adversely impacting citizens and the environment, particularly close to airports, ports and coastal areas; emphasises that air pollution from maritime transport is responsible for over 50 000 deaths annually in the EU and must therefore be further reduced1a; points out that a scientific study commissioned by the Commission concluded that without further action, maritime NOx emissions will likely match land-based NOx emissions within a decade1b, while another study has concluded that luxury cruise ships alone, a small segment of maritime transport, already emit more disease-causing sulphur oxide emissions than all of Europe's passenger cars in a year1c; calls for the strengthening of European climate and environmental legislation covering the maritime sector; demands to declare the Mediterranean Sea a nitrogen- and sulphur-emissions control area (NECA/SECA); calls on the Member States to strictly control NECA and SECA zones in their territorial waters; points out that land- and sea-bound emission measurements should be accompanied by satellite detection; calls on the Commission to further issue reduction requirements to seaborne air and climate pollutants, and requirements aiming for zero-emission ports; requests that any European measures aimed at reducing ship air pollution should also reduce GHG emissions, especially CO2 and methane; _________________ 1aBrandt, J., Silver, J. D., and Frohn, L. M., ‘Assessment of Health-Cost Externalities of Air Pollution at the National Level using the EVA Model System. CEEH Scientific Report No 3’, 2011 1bThe potential for cost-effective air emission reductions from international shipping through designation of further Emission Control Areas in EU waters with focus on the Mediterranean Sea, IIASA, 2018 1cOne corporation to pollute them all, Transport & Environment, 2018
Amendment 187 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 f (new)
Paragraph 10 f (new)
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that Air Quality Plans (AQPs), a key requirement of the AAQ Directives in cases when Member States do not comply with air quality standards, are often ineffective in terms of delivering their expected results; calls on the Commission to establish a set of minimum requirements and share best practices for both the drafting and implementation of AQPimmediately provide guidance to Member States on how to prepare their Plans, in the form of an implementing act in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2008/50/EC, without waiting for the revision of the AAQ Directives, as announced in the Fitness Check and in the Green Deal Communication; encourages the Commission to also share best practices for the production and implementation of the Plans; calls on the Commission, in the framework of the revision of the AAQ Directives, to establish a set of minimum requirements for AQPs, building inter alia on the implementing act, to make sure AQPs set time-bound action which is commensurate with the pollution problem they need to address and to guarantee that there is enough funding to carry out the planned action and include reliable reduction calculations that can be used to measure implementation, as well as an automatic mechanism of further measures should the expected pollution reduction not materialise; encourages local authorities to implement, including as part of their Air Quality Plans, information campaigns and incentive schemes for building renovations and the replacement of old, inefficient and polluting residential heating and cooling systems - responsible for large amounts of emissions of CO, PM, benzo(a)pyrene (BaP), black carbon and other air pollutants - with renewable energy-based solutions for residual energy demand, where possible at district level; calls on Member States to set out a roadmap to phase out fossil fuel-based heating and cooling technologies as part of their National Energy and Climate Plans;
Amendment 200 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Regrets the fact that the AAQ Directive neither requires Member States to report on the implementation of AQPs to the Commission nor to update them when new measures are adopted or when the progress is insufficient; calls on the Commission, in the framework of the upcoming revision of the AAQ Directives, to attribute itself the power to evaluate the AQPs and to establish a yearly reporting obligation for the implementation of the AQPs;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Alerts that, as of October 2019, 32 infringement procedures against 20 Member States remained pendt the time of writing, 31 infringement procedures against 18 Member States are open in relation to the implementation of the AAQ Directives; highlights that these include 13 infringement procedures because of PM10 emissions above the European limit values, 11 because of NO2 emissions and 1 because of SO2 emissions; notes that 6 additional infringement procedures are open because of failures to implement monitoring requirements; notes that the PM10 and SO2 limit values were to be met as of 2005; recognises that some of these infringement procedures are ongoing since 2009; highlights that so far, however, no Member State has been condemned to the payment of financial penalties; highlights that despite ongoing infringement procedures, pollution concentration exceedances continue today; notes that for 2019, 17 Member States reported exceedances of EU air quality standards for NO2, 14 Member States reported exceedances for PM10, 4 reported exceedances for PM2.5 and 1 for SO2; is concerned by the lack of enforcement of the NEC Directive; alerts that since 2010 no infringement procedures were opened with regard to emissions above the ceilings set by the NEC Directive, even though 3 Member States never reported NH3 emissions below their respective ceiling; considers that the persistent exceedances of air quality standards by Member States indicatemplies their lack of commitment to adoptingtake more effective measures, and the ineffectiveness of the current enforcement procedure; urges the Commission to review the current enforcement procedure for the AAQ Directiv to protect their citizens’ health and the environment, in spite of the existing legal obligations; highlights that the long delays before an infringement procedure is launched by the European Commission and the amount of time elapsing between the various infringement procedure steps are making EU enforcement ineffective; calls on the Commission to take legal action as soon as it becomes aware that EU air quality laws are not being implemented and to swiftly follow up with Court referrals and sanctions when violations are established; recalls its observation of 16 January 2020 that procedures have to be more efficient in the field of environmental infringements; is concerned that the Commission’s Directorate General for Environment currently has 23 staff working on the implementation of EU environmental law in 27 Member States; considers this insufficient to ensure proper enforcement; calls on the Commission to make available the necessary financial and human resources to ensure swift follow- up of non-compliance; calls on the Commission to regularly produce clear and comprehensive overviews of the open infringement procedures and to publish without delays its communication exchanges with the non-compliant Member States;
Amendment 215 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Considers that public information and awareness have a critical role in addressing air pollution; draws attention to the fact that Member States, regions and cities define air quality indices differently, and that information and alert thresholds are currently missing for some pollutants; urges the Commission and Member States to establish a standardised air quality classification system applicablepublic communication across the EU;
Amendment 219 #
15. Stresses that information on the possible health effects of air pollution provided by Member States is scarce, unclear and not easily accessible for the publichard to find; calls on the Commission and Member States to ensure easy access to real-time, accurate information on air quality, to launch public information campaigns on topics such as different types of air pollutants and their impact on human health or current localthe existing levels of air pollution in the territory, including information targeted to vulnerable groups, and to publish rankings of the best and leaworst progress made by air quality zones;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Urges the Commission to update the AAQ Directives to include explicit provisions that guarantee the right of citizens to justice in line with the Aarhus Convention; Expresses gratitude and appreciation to the civil society for the high number of cases brought in front of national courts for exceedances of AAQ limit values and lacking or inadequate AQPs, contributing to the enforcement of the Directives; regrets, however, the difficulties faced by civil society to access justice in certain Member States in the absence of explicit provisions within the Directives; urges the Commission to update the AAQ Directives to include explicit provisions that guarantee the right of citizens to justice in line with the Aarhus Convention; calls also the Commission, in line with the Roadmap for the Inception Impact Assessment, to introduce criteria for effective penalties and for compensation of pollution damages to individuals, as incentives to national and local authorities to fully implement the Directives;