The Council’s Presidency has an important impact on EU policy. Since January 2018, Bulgaria is holding the presidency and therefore establishing the priorities of the council for first 6 months of 2018.
The Environment and water Bulgarian ministry, Neno Dimov, spoke on the air pollution issue in Europe during opening of the 21st European Eco-innovation Forum on Air Quality held 5-6 February in Sofia. Bulgaria has the highest death rate related to air pollution in the bloc.
According to the minister, air quality is an “urgent matter”, as “air quality is quality of life”. The Bulgarian presidency wants to be active in legislative and policy initiatives that support innovative solutions in the field of air quality and will seek best practices for reducing emissions.
Eco-innovation it is supposed to bring improvements on air quality, as it has an impact in the field of renewable energy sources and fuel systems for vehicles.
At EFA we welcome new solutions designed to reduce air pollution, responsible for 3 million deaths a year are linked to air pollution according to the World Health organization (WHO). Nevertheless, eco-innovation alone cannot tackle a key area of air pollution: indoor air quality.
EFA has been calling for the adoption of an EU Indoor Air Quality Strategy, that was deemed to be developed several years ago but never happened. This is crucial for patients as people spend 60-90% of their life indoors, exposed to pollutants that cause or exacerbate respiratory diseases, allergies, intoxication and certain types of cancer.
Learn more about EFA’s activity on indoor air quality