On 15 July 2015, the European Parliament Commitee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety will vote on Julie Girling’s report concerning the revised National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive. EFA and its Members Allergy UK, Asthme & Allergies, Federasma e Allergie, FFAAIR and NAAF, urged ENVI together with a coalition of over sixty health, environmental and animal welfare organisations, to stand for ambitious EU action that will benefit people’s health, environment and the economy.
Every year, over 400,000 Europeans die prematurely because of air pollution. Bad air quality causes severe illnesses such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, aggravation of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), harms to children’s healthy development and is a risk factor for diabetes. The health-related economic costs of air pollution are enormous, amounting to between €330 billion and €940 billion for the EU in the year 2010 alone.
More ambition is necessary, possible and cost-effective. The Commission’s proposal to revise the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive is very welcome but is far from sufficient to solve Europe’s air quality problems. The European Parliament’s impact assessment shows that the new EU climate and energy policy agreed by the Council in October would lead to significant air quality improvements for costs that are lower than in the initial Commission proposal.
Have a look at the Health and Environment community recommendations to review the NEC Directive.