EU deal on improved air quality fails to align with WHO standards

The provisional agreement on new rules for air quality across the EU is hailed as a step forward despite not aligning with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.

EU institutions came to an agreement on the evening of Tuesday (20 February) on the revised rules for ambient air quality as part of the Zero Pollution Action Plan, aiming for zero pollution in air, water and soil by 2050.

The deal was praised by the EU Parliament’s key negotiator Javí Lopez, who called it “a major step in our ongoing efforts to ensure a cleaner and healthier future for all Europeans”.

Similarly, Alain Maron, minister of the government of the Brussels-Capital Region with responsibility for climate and environment, called the agreement “crucial” and said they will “drastically improve the quality of the air we breathe and help us effectively tackle air pollution, thus reducing premature deaths and health related risks.”

At the core of the agreement are lower limits for a range of pollutants, including the ones causing the most harm to human health, fine particulate matter (PM2,5) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).

It also includes more air quality sampling points in European cities, a demand for the European Commission to review the rules again by 2030, and the opportunity for citizens to seek compensation if their health is damaged due to the violation of the new rules.

Although air quality across Europe has slowly improved over the past years, the European Environmental Agency estimates that there are still more than 300,000 premature deaths in the EU each year due to air pollution.

A step forward

Ever since the EU Commission proposed the revised rules in October 2022, health organisations have criticised the lack of ambition on annual limit values for pollutants.

While the agreement slashes the values for PM2,5 from 25 µg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) to 10 µg/m3 and for NO2 from 40 µg/m3 to 20 µg/m3, this fails to align with the most recent World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations from 2021. Here, they advise to not exceed 5 μg/m3 for PM2,5 and 10 μg/m3 for NO2.

Despite this, Anne Stauffer, deputy director of the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL), called the agreement “a major step forward”.

“While regrettably the compromise falls short on fully updating with the scientific recommendations, the package has a huge potential to lessen people’s suffering, prevent disease and achieve economic savings,” Stauffer said.

Other organisations’ reactions highlighted the urgency of improving air quality.

“The EU air quality standards need to be urgently updated. Doctors across Europe agree that we need better air quality, and public authorities and national governments need to act, to help lessen the disease burden,” said Christiaan Keijzer, president of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME).

“Scientifically it is beyond doubt that air pollution harms health across Europe. Now is the time for politicians, especially from national governments, to ensure we have the legal frame to follow through with science-based EU clean air standards to protect people’s health,” said Zorana Jovanovic Andersen, chair of the European Respiratory Society’s environment and health committee.

Despite the widespread acknowledgement of the need for stricter limits for cleaner air, the deal has also led some to worry about the consequences of stricter limit values for air pollutants.

Holger Lösch, deputy managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), said that the deal “jeopardises the transformation of industry towards climate neutrality.”

Lösch worries that the limits “could delay or even prevent conversion projects, even if they serve climate neutrality and the transformation” and that the deal “could lead to unacceptable interventions in the economy, mobility, agriculture and housing in Germany. Far-reaching driving bans for cars and lorries are once again conceivable.”

Cover photo: Improving air quality to match World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended levels could prevent more than half of premature deaths caused by exposure to fine particulate matter, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA). [Shutterstock: khunkornStudio]