WRITTEN QUESTION E-1986/03 by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Atmospheric pollution in Athens and Thessaloniki.
Date: 2003-06-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Central Greece, Macedonia, air quality, degree of pollution, pollution control, prevention of pollution, reduction of gas emissions

C 78 E/62

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

Even though the equivalence of such documents is a matter falling within the jurisdiction of the Member
States, does the Commission not consider that the governments of the Member states should be asked to
harmonise their regulations on procedures and the documents required for authorisation to fly such
aircraft, in particular since such harmonisation would remove an obstacle to the exercise of a sporting
activity which is very popular among young people?

Answer given by Mrs Reding on behalf of the Commission

(24 July 2003)

The Commission welcomes all efforts to remove obstacles to free movement in general and to the exercise
of a sporting activity in particular.

However, on the basis of the information given, the Commission cannot give a precise reply to the
question asked, namely how Community law could be involved in this case, because the rules to which the
Honourable Member refers do not seem to be based on discrimination on grounds of nationality.

The Honourable Member is requested to bear in mind that the Community is not competent to deal with
the question of harmonisation between the Member States of regulations on the procedures and
documents required for authorisations to fly ultra-light aircraft.

The problems of harmonisation of such documents therefore lie solely within the competence of the
Member States.

(2004/C 78 E/0063)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1986/03

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Atmospheric pollution in Athens and Thessaloniki

(16 June 2003)

According to Greek press reports at the beginning of June 2003, research was recently carried out on
behalf of the Commission into levels of harmful microparticles in the air in 19 European cities. These
publications show that Athens and Thessaloniki have the highest levels of tropospheric ozone or benzene,
namely up to 2,6 times the permitted levels laid down in Community environmental
legislation. In
particular, while the highest permitted levels of this specific pollutant in the EU are 48 µg/m3, in these two
cities they are as high as 125 µg/m3. Moreover, the Ministry for the Environment, Regional Planning and
Public Works, the ministry responsible, admits that suspended particles really do pose a problem, especially
in view of the targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol for 2005.

Will the Commission say:

1. What are the basic conclusions of this specific research regarding this type of pollution in Athens and

Thessalonki?

2. What proportion of overall environmental pollution in Athens and Thessaloniki is accounted for by

this pollutant?

if

so, what measures has

3. Has the Commission so far made any recommendations to the Greek authorities to limit this pollutant
and,
If no
the Greek government
recommendations have been made to the Greek government, does the Commission consider that
competent Greek authorities could have taken preventive measures in respect of the pollutant in
question on their own initiative?

taken to implement

them?

4. What are the permissible levels for emissions of the pollutant in question in the Kyoto Protocol and

what stage has Greece reached in preparing to meet these obligations?

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/63

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(17 July 2003)

Judging from a similar Written Question (E-3254/02 by the Honourable Member) (1) sent
to the
Commission in November 2002, it appears that the research project referred to here is the European
Aerosol Research Lidar Network (Earlinet). A basic conclusion of this project is that it is possible to
develop an infrastructure for setting up a European-wide network of LIDAR systems to study the vertical
distribution of aerosols. Since measurements were not carried out continuously throughout the year there
is a need for caution in drawing other conclusions. In particular online monitoring of ground level particle
concentrations was not in the scope of the project.

Airborne suspended particulate matter (PM) has to be considered as one of the key pollutants affecting
human health. Based on reports officially submitted to the Commission under the provisions of current
Community legislation, annual concentrations of PM10 (i.e. particles with a diameter less that 10
micrometer (µm) in Athens and Thessaloniki are in the range of 50-70 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/
m3) thus clearly exceeding the limit value (plus margin of tolerance) of 46 µg/m3 for the year 2003.
Therefore it certainly represents a major fraction of the overall air pollution, as is the case in other large
European cities. However, other air pollutants like ozone, benzene, nitrogen oxides or sulphur dioxide are
also important.

Current Community legislation on air quality (Air Quality Framework Directive (1996/62/EC (2)) and
accompanying Daughter Directives (1999/30/EC (3), 2000/69/EC (4), 2002/3/EC (5))) sets out limit values for
specific pollutants (including PM10) to be reached by certain attainment dates (2005 for PM10). In the case
of exceedance of the limit value plus a defined margin of tolerance (which decreases yearly reaching zero
at the attainment date), Member States are obliged to submit plans and programmes to demonstrate how
the limit value can be reached. These are due for the first time by the end of 2003. It is Member States’
responsibility to take appropriate measures to reduce the air pollution. These can differ between Member
States. The Commission does not give specific recommendations on how the limit values are to be reached
in individual cases.

While particles do influence the radiation balance through their specific absorption and light scattering
characteristics they are not regarded as a major cause of climate change. Consequently they are not
amongst the substances covered by the Kyoto Protocol.

(1) OJ C 155 E, 3.7.2003, p. 119.
(2) Council Directive 96/62/EC of 27 September 1996 on ambient air quality assessment and management, OJ L 296,

21.11.1996.

(3) Council Directive 1999/30/EC of 22 April 1999 relating to limit values for sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and

oxides of nitrogen, particulate matter and lead in ambient air, OJ L 163, 29.6.1999.

(4) Directive 2000/69/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 16 November 2000 relating to limit values for

benzene and carbon monoxide in ambient air, OJ L 313, 13.12.2000.

(5) Directive 2002/3/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 12 February 2002 relating to ozone in ambient air,

OJ L 67, 9.3.2002.

(2004/C 78 E/0064)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1987/03

by Piia-Noora Kauppi (PPE-DE)
and Per-Arne Arvidsson (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(16 June 2003)

Subject: Nuclear safety principles applied to the EU accession countries

We refer to the proposal for a Council Directive setting out basic obligations and general principles
concerning the safety of nuclear installations (1). The Directive proposes common safety standards and