Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the "Communication from the Commission: The Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Programme: Towards a thematic strategy for air quality"
Date: 2001-11-15
Institutions: European Committee of the Regions
Subjects: EU programme, air quality, environmental protection, prevention of pollution

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stresses the need to ensure that,

24.
in the absence of
harmonisation, where some Member States apply legislation

in advance of another, trade between the Member States would
not be adversely affected.

Brussels, 15 November 2001.

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT

Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on the ‘Communication from the Commission: The
Clean Air for Europe (CAFE) Programme: Towards a thematic strategy for air quality’

(2002/C 107/24)

THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS,

having regard to the Communication from the Commission entitled ‘The Clean Air for Europe (CAFE)
Programme: Towards a thematic strategy for air quality’ (COM(2001) 245 final);

having regard to the Commission’s internal working document entitled ‘Clean Air for Europe’ (CAFE)
(SEC(2001) 688);

having regard to the decision of the European Commission of 5 May 2001, under the first paragraph of
Article 265 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, to consult the Committee of the Regions;

having regard to the CoR Bureau decision of 12 June 2001 to instruct Commission 4 — Spatial Planning,
Urban Issues, Energy and the Environment — to draw up its opinion on the subject;

having regard to it’s Opinion on the Commission’s Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament
and of the Council on national emission ceilings for certain atmospheric pollutants and the Proposal for
a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to ozone in ambient air (CdR
358/1999 fin) (1);

having regard to the Draft Opinion CdR 203/2001 rev., approved by Commission 4 on 8 October 2001
for which the rapporteur was Mr A. Paiva (President of Tomar Municipal Council, P-PPE),

adopted the following opinion by unanimous vote at its 41st plenary session of 14 and 15 November
2001 (meeting of 15 November).

1. General comments

1.1.
Improving air quality in Europe remains a constant
concern. The fact that air is still polluted constitutes a threat
to both human health and the environment.
is vital
to provide a link-up with the sixth Environmental Action
Programme, giving a boost to sustainable development and
recognizing the need to channel efforts into creating ‘sustaina-

It

(1) OJ C 317, 6.11.2000, p. 35.

ble cities’ where a healthy economy can exist alongside good
quality air (and other aspects of human health and the
environment). The Clean Air for Europe programme (CAFE)
has to adopt a comprehensive, holistic approach to this
problem, focusing on urban areas which are the key to ‘clean
air’ for the people of Europe and their environment.

1.2.
The establishment of a programme specifically focus-
ing on air quality is highly important; its aim is to provide an
instrument for improving quality of life, for forging links
between a variety of activities and in particular for securing
sustainable development in urban areas.

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In this connection it is essential that the following

1.3.
fundamental issues be broached:

2.2. The scientific basis to air-quality policies

— the incorporation of specific policies on air quality into a
coherent policy approach and a link-up between this and
sectoral policies;

— reassertion of the principle of using scientific back-up for

devising policies;

— involvement of all the various parties concerned;

— acknowledgement of the need for particular attention to
those sections of the population most vulnerable to the
effects of air pollution (especially children, older people
and people with respiratory problems);

— recognition of the relationship between given levels of
exposure to atmospheric pollution, spatial planning and
consumer behaviour;

— guaranteed application of the subsidiarity principle, given
that many actions have to be carried out at local and
regional authority level;

— recognition of the need for increased resources to back
up the proposed strategy and ensure its objectives are
properly met;

— the establishment of a system for monitoring the results

to guarantee and check up on quality.

2. Recommendations

2.1. General assessment

The document refers,

2.2.1.
in overly vague terms, to
developing existing mechanisms for making use of currently
available scientific knowledge when formulating policies,
priorities and strategies.

The link-up with the Sixth Framework Programme
2.2.2.
for Research and Technological Development
(6th FP),
although highlighted in the Commission document, gives rise
to a number of concerns. The version of the 6th FP under
discussion does not deem atmospheric pollution to be a
research priority. It only discusses the link between environ-
mental exposure and health as regards exposure to small doses
of pollutants. Moreover, according to the timetable which has
been laid down, the projects to be financed under the 6th FP
will not be completed in 2004, which is the year scheduled for
developing this thematic programme.

2.2.3.
Various groups and initiatives have been set up to
look at atmospheric pollution, which have a potentially
important input to make and these fall outside the scope of
the European Union’s framework programmes for research.
These include initiatives undertaken by the Council of Applied
Sciences and Engineering (Euro-CASE), the European Science
Foundation (ESF), the European Programme for Cooperation
in the field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST),
and the EUREKA initiative which includes the EUROTRAC
atmospheric pollution programme.

2.2.4. Mechanisms will have to be devised to guarantee
effective access to the latest scientific knowledge.

The present proposal

2.1.1.
is disappointing because it
adopts an over-general approach and does not cover aspects
of, and specific arrangements for, tying this new programme
in with the various other current actions having an impact on
air quality.

2.1.2.
Although the proposal recognises the importance of
connecting air-quality policies with specific sectoral policies,
no methods are proposed for implementing this which might
enable priorities to be defined and any clashes between
programmes to be resolved.

2.1.3.
The first phase of the programme focuses too much
on particulate matter and ozone. Although these pollutants
are problems requiring a short-term response and directly or
indirectly involve a large number of emission sources, this
narrow focus on a limited area does restrict the programme in
its aims to incorporate a wide range of relevant issues. For
example, problems of climate change and persistent organic
pollutants, which raise a wide series of questions involving
different levels of intervention, are not broached.

2.3. The Protagonists

2.3.1.
The role which various institutions will play in CAFE
is not clear. This is true for the European Environment Agency
(EEA) and the ETC-AQ (Energy Technology Cleaning House
— Air Quality), both bodies which have important responsi-
bilities for compiling and producing information and technical
analysis.

2.3.2.
Public involvement is overly geared to a ‘top-down’
approach which basically views the public as receivers of
information.

2.3.3.
Recognition of the importance of establishing links
between atmospheric pollution and spatial planning, either in
terms of emissions or the potential impact on health and the
environment, should mean that local authorities have an
important role to play here. However, only passing reference
is made to this in the Commission document.

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2.3.4.
orities is vital at several levels:

Pro-active involvement on the part of local auth-

— using air-quality simulation models

in support of
decisions by, for example, adopting one modelling system
for use throughout the European Union;

— their spatial planning responsibilities mean that they have
the ability to influence the location of emission sources
and the sections of the population exposed thereto;

— as part of their spatial planning responsibilities, they have
a say in how local transport networks are organised and
how sustainable alternatives are developed;

— as part of their planning activities and in line with the
suggestions in this proposal, particular attention will have
to be paid to those sections of the population most
vulnerable to atmospheric pollution;

— in contacts with the general public, either in terms of
providing information or promoting public involvement;

— in the involvement of various local bodies in policies

dealing with air quality;

— promoting the development and use of emissions and
air-quality forecasting models as support tools for local
and regional management;

— ensuring there is a link between air-quality monitoring
and modelling capabilities and the information needed
for analysing possible impact on human health;

— developing environment and health information systems
allowing links to be established between cause and effect
and enabling preventative or remedial actions to be
undertaken;

— setting up thematic working groups to provide continu-
ous support for policy formulation with the necessary
financial support;

— in the link-up between any policies and actions
implemented in the tier above municipalities, which are
likely to have a regional impact on air quality.

— defining mechanisms for implementing the programme
resources and

(organisation, human and technical
funding).

As part of a pro-active or official approach, it may
2.3.5.
be necessary to match local authorities’ degree of involvement
with new powers and the necessary economic and practical
resources, above and beyond their present responsibilities.

2.5. Management principles

that

is vital

2.3.6.
Since this strategy aims to act as a catalyst and given
that the subject matter is recognised as being highly complex,
it
information on scientific knowledge and
associated uncertainties be accurately passed on to decision-
makers and the public. In this connection it is important to
encourage closer relations between the scientific community,
decision-makers, local operators and the media.

2.4.

Scientific, technical and organisational aspects

A number of questions remain open on scientific,
2.4.1.
technical and organisational issues which are fundamental for
implementing the programme. These include:

— defining the processes and responsibilities for collating,
processing and checking the validity of air quality and
air-emissions data;

Steps to set up an effective programme, allowing
2.5.1.
continuous, sustained intervention aimed at improving air
quality, should be based on a series of management-oriented
principles:

— CAFE will have to be an integrated, long-term programme
geared to devising measures for improving air quality in
the EU;

— CAFE must not merely involve harmonising develop-
ments already under way (specifically legal developments)
but should be a dynamic programme for actively manag-
ing EU decision-making processes;

— CAFE should operate over well-defined periods of time
(for example 5 years),
including the development of
measures/instruments, monitoring, scientific review and
strategic development;

— setting out the possibility of including data from other
(‘unofficial’) sources, as long as they are first subject to
quality control;

— CAFE will have to set up a solid system at EU level for
setting binding air quality objectives for a series of specific
pollutants;

— setting up databases accessible to the scientific com-
munity and those involved in the strategic decision-
making processes;

— CAFE will have to require Member States or the auth-
orities they appoint to set up systems for assessing air
quality in their territories;

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— CAFE will have to ensure that Member States draw up
plans and action programmes to respond to situations
where the ambient air quality does not meet the pre-
defined criteria;

— CAFE will have to put a monitoring system into oper-
ation, based on quality guarantees and checks on short-
and medium-term results, to apply to all parties con-
cerned;

Brussels, 15 November 2001.

— CAFE will have to draw up arrangements for a complete,
coherent system for producing, collating, processing,
Information
transmitting and publishing information.
exchange between the various parties concerned could be
depicted as follows:

Research

Technical analysis

Strategy Decision-making

The President

of the Committee of the Regions

Jos CHABERT