Monday

5th Jun 2023

Air pollution in many EU cities 'stubbornly high'

  • More than half of the 323 cities analysed had a "bad" or "poor" air quality (Photo: José Pedro Costa)

Many EU citizens are still exposed to illegal and dangerous levels of pollution, especially badly in Italy and Poland, new data from the European Environment Agency (EEA) revealed.

"While air quality has improved markedly over the past years, air pollution remains stubbornly high in many cities across Europe," said EEA executive director Hans Bruyninckx.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Although the coronavirus lockdowns introduced by almost all member states in the spring of 2020 led to significant reductions in air pollution, more than half of the 323 cities analysed by the EEA had a "bad" or "poor" air quality.

The analysis, released last week (17 June), shows that only 39 percent of the cities are categorised as "good" - meaning the level of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) falls below the threshold established by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Fine particulate matter comes from emission sources like road transport, industrial processes or agriculture - being one of the air pollutants with the highest impact on health, leading to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

While the EU in 2015 set legally-binding air quality standards to tackle air pollution (a limit for PM2.5 of 25 μg/m3), they are less stringent than those suggested by the WHO (10 μg/m3).

Exposure to fine particulate matter caused about 417,000 premature deaths in 41 European countries in 2018 - 60,000 fewer than 10 years before.

It is estimated that reducing air pollution to WHO-recommended levels in the EU could prevent 51,213 premature deaths each year.

The best...and the worst

From 2019 to 2020, the top three cleanest cities in Europe in terms of air quality were Umeå in Sweden, Tampere in Finland and Funchal in Portugal.

Sweden's Uppsala and Stockholm, Estonia's Tallinn and Narva and Tartu, Noway's Bergen and Trondheim, and Spain's Salamanca also ranked among the top 10 of the EEA list.

By contrast, the three most polluted cities in Europe were Nowy Sacz in Poland, Cremona in Italy and Slavonski Brod in Croatia - all exceeding the limit EU's limits for air pollution.

Other Polish (Zgierz, Piotrkow Trybunalsi, Zory and Krakow) and Italian cities (Vicenza, Brescia and Pavia), as well as the town of Veliko in Bulgaria, also recorded the worst air quality in Europe.

There are currently 15 ongoing infringement procedures against member states for failing respect particulate matter limits at national level.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Italy and Hungary have all exceed the legal limits on air pollution, undermining human health.

But the European Commission has also referred France, Greece and Slovakia to the EU's top court over poor air quality.

Another seven cases are currently at the stage of a reasoned opinion or a letter of formal notice, which are the initial steps of an infringement procedure.

Only cities with a population of over 50,000 inhabitants, which have monitored air quality for a minimum of 75 percent of period, have been included in the EEA analysis.

In May, the EU Commission unveiled a plan to reduce pollution in air, water and soil to levels that are no longer harmful to human health and natural ecosystems by 2050 - when the EU also aims to become climate neutral.

Air pollution drops in Europe, but how long will it last?

Air pollution has dramatically decreased across Europe following the coronavirus lockdown measures - although experts warn an 'emissions surge' is likely to happen as economies recover. Meanwhile, experts point out the link between air pollution and Covid-19 "underlying conditions".

Western Balkan coal plants causing thousands of deaths

Air pollution from coal-powered plants in the western Balkans has caused 19,000 deaths over the past three years, according to a new report. Coal-fired power plants in the region have breached emission legal limits for years.

EU: national energy price-spike measures should end this year

"If energy prices increase again and support cannot be fully discontinued, targeted policies to support vulnerable households and companies — rather than wide and less effective support policies — will remain crucial," the commission said in its assessment.

Opinion

EU export credits insure decades of fossil-fuel in Mozambique

European governments are phasing out fossil fuels at home, but continuing their financial support for fossil mega-projects abroad. This is despite the EU agreeing last year to decarbonise export credits — insurance on risky non-EU projects provided with public money.

Latest News

  1. Spanish PM to delay EU presidency speech due to snap election
  2. EU data protection chief launches Frontex investigation
  3. Madrid steps up bid to host EU anti-money laundering hub
  4. How EU leaders should deal with Chinese government repression
  5. MEPs pile on pressure for EU to delay Hungary's presidency
  6. IEA: World 'comfortably' on track for renewables target
  7. Europe's TV union wooing Lavrov for splashy interview
  8. ECB: eurozone home prices could see 'disorderly' fall

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. InformaConnecting Expert Industry-Leaders, Top Suppliers, and Inquiring Buyers all in one space - visit Battery Show Europe.
  2. EFBWWEFBWW and FIEC do not agree to any exemptions to mandatory prior notifications in construction
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic and Baltic ways to prevent gender-based violence
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Economic gender equality now! Nordic ways to close the pension gap
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: Pushing back the push-back - Nordic solutions to online gender-based violence
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersCSW67: The Nordics are ready to push for gender equality

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us