{"id":476,"date":"2026-03-02T10:57:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T10:57:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/efanet.org\/annual-report\/?page_id=476"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:12:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:12:37","slug":"ambient-air-quality-policy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/efanet.org\/annual-report\/2023\/climate-change\/ambient-air-quality-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"Ambient air quality policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2023<\/strong> will be remembered as a defining year for air quality in Europe<\/strong>. Following a long period of public consultations, the revision of the EU Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) entered the last stage of the legislative process. Throughout the year, EFA intensified the advocacy work for clean air in Europe. We organised an EFA Members\u2019 workshop to identify the community concerns that should be addressed in the EU Air Quality Directives.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EFA community asks reflected a health-protective, science-driven revision of the legislative framework<\/strong>, including the full alignment of EU air quality standards with the 2021 WHO recommendations by 2030, better public information on air quality, and the establishment of a citizen-friendly framework for access to justice and compensation for damages due to air pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We submitted in a Commission public consultation outlining the patients\u2019 ask and we met with six Members of the European Parliament working on the AAQD file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EFA Senior Policy Advisor Panagiotis Chaslaridis with Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Javi L\u00f3pez and MEP Petros Kokkalis.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also rallied together with the public health community<\/strong>, especially partnering with the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) of which EFA is a member and sits in the Executive Committee, and with the European Respiratory Society (ERS). Together, we signed four joint letters to the European Parliament and the Council of the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through meetings with key decision-makers, proposals for concrete legislative amendments, but also joint advocacy letters, EFA was able to bring the asks of allergy, asthma, and COPD patients at the heart of the revision process, highlighting the heavy impact that air pollution has on respiratory health.            <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EFA brought these considerations to key policymakers through our participation in all Commission expert groups such as the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform (four meetings in 2023). A delegation of two EFA representatives, including a Board Member, took active part in the 4th<\/sup> EU Clean Air Forum celebrated in Rotterdam<\/strong> (the Netherlands) were they highlighted the grave impact of air pollution on health, the lack of targeted air quality information, and the need to act urgently to ensure clean air for all. The subsequent summary report<\/a> of the conference refers to some of these comments made by EFA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also discussed data about the impact of NO2 on asthma and COPD in a Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) webinar on \u201cNO2 pollution and clean air standards\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EFA\u2019s ambient air quality advocacy in 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n\n