The draft text, adopted by the Environment Committee in June 2023, sets stricter 2030 limits and target values for several pollutants relative to the original Commission proposal to ensure that air quality in the EU is not harmful to human health, natural ecosystems and biodiversity. MEPs also want to increase the number of air quality sampling points and harmonise currently-fragmented and unintuitive air quality indices to provide better information to citizens about local air pollution. MEPs debate and vote on Wednesday on new rules to improve EU air quality for a cleaner and healthier environment. Extracts from the debate (12/09); extracts from the vote (13/09); and statement by Javi López (S&D, ES), Rapporteur.

statement

Strasbourg

debate

plenary session

vote

air quality (T)

LÓPEZ, Javi (S&D, ES)

SINKEVIČIUS, Virginijus (Greens/EFA, LT)

European Green Deal (T)

Ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe: extracts from the debate (12/09); extracts from the vote (13/09); and statement by Javi López (S&D, ES), Rapporteur

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/72035399/1694168289457_I245604Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

Ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe: extracts from the debate (12/09); extracts from the vote (13/09); and statement by Javi L&oacute;pez (S&amp;D, ES), Rapporteur (EbS)

SOUNDBITE (English), Virginijus SINKEVIČIUS, European Commissioner for Environment, The new standards we propose are stricter. But also implementable. Our robust impact assessment confirms that they can be achieved by 2030 at up to 94% of EU monitoring stations with benefits that are at least seven times greater than the costs. It also shows that neither lowering nor delaying those standards are an option, as those changes would be unacceptable costs in terms of human lives, and not only, as I said, any year we are losing the lives of 300,000 citizens. Our proposed standards would allow to decrease the premature deaths from air pollution by at least 70% in the next ten years of EU monitoring stations with benefits that are at least.

Vote results: 363 in favour, 226 against, 46 abstentions

SOUNDBITE (English), Javi LOPEZ (S&amp;D, ES), Air pollution is the main threat coming from the environment to the public health. Basically, with air pollution, we are facing a slow motion pandemic. We were able the European Union during the last decades to tackle this challenge, to improve their air quality and to have a cleaner air quality. But now we have more acknowledge about what is attacking our health were approved 15-20 years ago. And now with the new proposal of the commission, the Parliament is ready to improve the air quality standards, but especially to follow up the guidelines of the World Health Organisation. The proposal of the European Parliament is trying is trying not only to support the proposal of the Commission, there is a proposal in the right direction also to take into account the World Health Organisation guidelines above two years ago.

SOUNDBITE (English), Javi LOPEZ (S&amp;D, ES), One of the big challenges not only to have stronger standards, it is also to have good and reinforce monitoring. Why? Because all we think that we are breathing the same air and it's not exactly like that. And one of the proposals of the European Parliament is to strengthen our monitoring how to do it, being really careful in the zones, in the special zones with more vulnerable groups like close to the schools, because usually we know that air quality is linked with inequalities and usually the neighbourhoods with low income, low income income groups and they are challenging with my worst air quality and with more air pollution.

SOUNDBITE (English), Javi LOPEZ (S&amp;D, ES), The European Parliament is proposing roadmaps with the local governments approved by the local governments and regional governments that ensure a guarantee that all the administrations in all the cases they are preparing roadmap a plan to improve air quality and ensure that the standards are not only limits approved in Brussels are also a reality in the policies made by the local and regional governments.