Opinion of the Commission pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, on the European Parliament's amendments to the Council's common position regarding the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe amending the proposal of the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty
Date: 2008-04-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: air quality, environmental law, environmental standard, pollution control measures, public health, quality of the environment

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 1.4.2008 
COM(2008) 163 final 

2005/0183 (COD) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 

pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, 
on the European Parliament's amendments 
to the Council's common position regarding the  
proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe 

AMENDING THE PROPOSAL OF THE COMMISSION pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the 
EC Treaty 

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2005/0183 (COD) 

OPINION OF THE COMMISSION 

pursuant to Article 251(2), third subparagraph, point (c) of the EC Treaty, 
on the European Parliament's amendments 
to the Council's common position regarding the  
proposal for a 

DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  
AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Procedure 

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On  21  September  2005  the  Commission  submitted  a  proposal  for  a  Directive  on 
ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe of the European Parliament and of the 
Council1 for adoption by co-decision procedure as laid down in Article 251 of the EC 
Treaty. 

The  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  delivered  its  opinion  on  17  May 
2006. 

The European Parliament adopted its position on first reading on 26 September 2006. 

The Council adopted its Common Position on 25 June 2007. 

The  European  Parliament  adopted  its  position  on  second  reading  on  11  December 
2007. 

This is an empty Line. 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL 

Air  pollution  has  very  strong  adverse  health  effects.  According  to  the  latest  scientific  and 
health evidence, presented in the Commission Communication on Thematic Strategy on Air 
Pollution2, only exposure to fine particulate matter PM2.5 in ambient air is responsible for the 
reduction of the statistical life expectancy of average EU citizen by more than 8 months. In its 
proposal the Commission thus introduces specific environmental standards for fine particulate 
matter PM2.5 in ambient air. Their implementation should significantly contribute to reaching 
objective  of  the  Thematic  Strategy  on  Air  Pollution  which  is  to  reduce  the  number  of  life 

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COM(2005) 447 final  
COM(2005) 446 

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years lost in Europe due to exposure to particulate matter by 47% in the period between 2000 
and 2020. 

Following  on  from  the  Commission  initiative  on  “better  regulation”,  the  Commission 
proposal for a Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe further merges the 
provisions of the framework and the three daughter Directives on ambient air quality together 
with  the  Council  Decision  on  the  Exchange  of  Information  into  a  single  Directive  with  the 
intention  of  simplifying,  streamlining  and  reducing  the  volume  of  existing  legislation.  In 
addition the proposal revises the existing provisions so as to incorporate the experience of the 
Member States. For that purpose the proposal: 

(1) 

(2) 

introduces  specific  monitoring  requirements  and  new  environmental 
objectives for fine particulate matter PM2.5; 

provides  some  flexibility  in  the  implementation  by  allowing,  under  specific 
conditions to be approved by the Commission, prolongation of the attainment 
dates  for  certain  limit  values  such  as  for  the  particulate  matter  PM10  and 
nitrogen dioxide; 

(3) 

enables  the  Member  States  to  focus  their  efforts  by  allowing  deduction  of 
natural contributions when assessing compliance with the limit values. 

3. 

COMMISSION COMMENTS 

3.1. 

General 

At its plenary session of 11 December 2007, the European Parliament adopted a compromise 
package  consisting  of  26  amendments  which  had  been  agreed  with  the  Council  in  view  of 
reaching a second reading agreement. 

The  Commission  accepts  all  amendments.  The  conclusion  of  the  compromise  package  has 
been  facilitated  by  the  adoption  of  a  declaration  by  the  Commission  on  the  Community 
measures necessary for reducing emissions at source (see Annex). 

3.2. 

Amended proposal 

Pursuant to Article 250(2) of the EC Treaty, the Commission amends its proposal as set out 
above. 

ANNEX  

DECLARATION BY THE COMMISSION  
ACCOMPANYING THE ADOPTION OF THE NEW DIRECTIVE ON AMBIENT AIR QUALITY AND 
CLEANER AIR FOR EUROPE 

The Commission takes note of the text adopted by the Council and the European Parliament 
for  the  Directive  on  ambient  air  quality  and  cleaner  air  for  Europe.  In  particular,  the 
Commission  notes  the  importance  attributed  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Member 
States  in  Article  22(4)  and  Recital  16  to  Community  measures  for  the  abatement  of  air 
pollutant emissions at source. 

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The  Commission  recognises  the  need  to  reduce  the  emissions  of  harmful  air  pollutants  if 
significant  progress  is  to  be  delivered  towards  the  objectives  established  in  the  6th 
Environmental Action Programme. The Commission's communication on a Thematic Strategy 
on  air  pollution  sets  out  a  significant  number  of  possible  Community  measures.  Significant 
progress on these and other measures has been made since the adoption of the Strategy:  

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The  Council  and  Parliament  have  already  adopted  new  legislation  limiting  the 
exhaust emissions of light duty vehicles; 

The  Commission  has  adopted  a  proposal  for  new  legislation  to  improve  the 
effectiveness  of  Community  industrial  emissions  legislation  including  intensive 
agricultural installations and measures to tackle smaller scale industrial combustion 
sources;  

The  Commission  has  adopted  a  proposal  for  new  legislation  limiting  the  exhaust 
emissions of engines installed in heavy duty vehicles; 

In 2008 the Commission foresees new legislative proposals that would: 

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further  reduce  the  Member  States'  permitted  national  emissions  of  key 
pollutants; 

reduce emissions associated with refuelling of petrol cars at service stations; 

address the sulphur content of fuels including marine fuels; 

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Preparatory work is also underway to investigate the feasibility of: 

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improving the eco-design and reducing the emissions of domestic boilers and 
water heaters; 

reducing  the  solvent  content  of  paints,  varnishes  and  vehicle  refinishing 
products; 

reducing  the  exhaust  emissions  of  non-road  mobile  machinery  and  thereby 
maximise the benefit of lower sulphur non-road fuels already proposed by the 
Commission; 

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The  Commission  also  continues  to  push  for  substantial  emissions  reductions  from 
ships  at  the  International  Maritime  Organization  and  it  is  committed  to  bringing 
forward  proposals  for  Community  measures  should  the  IMO  fail  to  deliver 
sufficiently ambitious proposals as foreseen in 2008. 

The Commission is, however, committed to the aims of its Better Regulation initiative and the 
need  for  proposals  to  be  underpinned  by  a  comprehensive  assessment  of  the  impacts  and 
benefits.  In  this  regard  and  in  accordance  with  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European 
Community,  the  Commission  will  continue  to  evaluate  the  need  to  bring  forward  new 
legislative  proposals  but  reserves  its  right  to  decide  if  and  when  it  would  be  appropriate  to 
present any such proposal. 

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