Tackling air pollution in the EU – legal perspective

• Autoři: VODIČKA Jiří
• Rok publikování: 2021
• Druh: Další prezentace na konferencích
• Popis: The contribution will discuss and analyse the current legal situation regarding air pollution in the European Union. The goal of this article is to briefly introduce EU air quality legislation and determine whether there exist best practices in tackling air pollution in the EU and possibly the way forward. Legal background for this contribution can be found in Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. This framework directive identifies specific pollutants (PM10, PM2,5, NOx, O3, CO, Pb, benzene, SO2) and sets various levels, thresholds, and values for these pollutants. Regulated pollutants were identified as substances with a significant impact on human health therefore their regulation is needed. The directive also introduces various conceptual instruments such as plans (Air quality plans, Short-term action plans) which should tackle either air pollution in the long term or short term through a diverse range of measures. Of course, the directive is not directly applicable therefore it needed to be implemented into legal codes of respective member states of the EU. This means each member state had to heed the purpose of the directive (and its provisions), but the implementation of the directive was solely in the hands of each member state. National implementations are scrutinized by the European Commission and if necessary, by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Thanks to the EU Court and various approaches of member states this contribution will try to extrapolate best practices that might set an example for other countries.