The Court of Auditors wants action against dirty air

luxembourg/brussels - The European Commission must tighten air quality standards 'ambitiously' to get the air cleaner, according to the European Court of Auditors. The standards are now much less stringent than the World Health Organization and scientists consider necessary and even those that are exceeded in most EU countries, the inspectors write in a report.

Every day more than 1,000 Europeans die prematurely from air pollution, and the social damage amounts to hundreds of billions of euros. 'The audit office looked in particular at the most harmful substances: particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Nitrogen is a problem in the Netherlands, especially in urban areas. Fine dust causes unhealthy air around intensive livestock farms.

EU policy has contributed to reducing emissions of harmful substances in recent decades, but public health is still at risk. In this respect, EU-funded projects are not always targeted.

Most Member States do not live up to the standards and do too little for cleaner air, the court further states. Moreover, the question is whether it is measured in the right places.

The European Commission has taken legal action against many Member States and even sued a few countries before the European Court and was right in that regard. Despite this, 'Member States continue to regularly violate air quality limit values. '

Citizens and organizations try to enforce measures in many countries, including the Netherlands, through national courts. However, the European rules for air quality offer 'explicit' less protection than some other environmental directives, according to the court. He also felt that governments should inform residents much better about the risks of the air they breathe.

The air quality in all Dutch city centers will meet the European standards by the end of this year, assured State Secretary Stientje van Veldhoven (Infrastructure and Water Management) this summer.