Air quality in Europe has improved over the past ten years, but most EU countries still do not meet international health standards.
Only four EU countries comply with the EU criteria, according to a new annual report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). The EU has already taken legal action against 18 countries and sued France in court last month.
Three quarters of EU citizens in urban areas are still exposed to air pollution levels that exceed EU limits by 4 percent. Approximately 379,000 premature deaths are attributed to exposure to fine particulate matter, 54,000 to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and 19,000 to ozone.
According to the EEA, between 2008 and 2018 air quality in the EU improved to such an extent that premature deaths caused by fine particulate matter and by NO2 decreased by 13 percent and 54 percent respectively. During those years, energy plants and industry significantly reduced their air pollution, while the agricultural sector, responsible for ammonia emissions from fertilizers and livestock manure, has reduced pollution at a slower pace.
Governments are not doing enough to reduce toxic emissions at their source, the agency warns. The research shows that harmful emissions from agriculture and home heating are not decreasing quickly enough. Nearly every EU member state exceeded recommended limits in 2018. Only Estonia, Finland, Iceland, and Ireland did not.
Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Italy exceeded the EU limits for fine particulate matter. This is one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution and caused approximately 417,000 premature deaths in 2018 across 41 European countries.
Belgium and the Netherlands submitted their plans in early April 2019, just before the deadline. Italy’s plan is still “in draft” a year and a half after the deadline, while Greece, Luxembourg, and Romania have not submitted any plan at all.