The data reported by the European Environment Agency (EEA) shows that air pollutant emissions were above legal limits in eight member states in 2011, while 12 member states exceeded these limits in 2010. The report also confirms that the most serious air pollutants are particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide.

According to final official data reported under the European Union’s National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive by the European Environment Agency (EEA), air pollutant emissions were above legal limits in eight member states in 2011. A fact which is also reflected in the new version of AirBase launched by the European Environment Agency (EEA) is that several air pollutants are still harming health and the environment in Europe. The most serious air pollutants are particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide. A survey's results published in January 2013 showed that seven out of ten Europeans considering themselves unhappy with efforts by public authorities to improve air quality.

Germany was the only member state to have exceeded three of four emission ceilings under the directive in both 2010 and 2011. On the other hand, road transport contributes approximately 40% of total EU NOx emissions and is one of the main factors behind the large number of NOx exceedances. Reductions of NOx from this sector over the last two decades have not been as large as originally anticipated. The EEA stressed that this is partly because transport demand has been higher than expected, and partly because real-world driving conditions have sometimes led to higher emissions than those anticipated with vehicle emission standards.

The EEA also highlighted that together with the new version of AirBase, the information on air pollutant emissions is an important resource for Europe’s air policies. EEA’s annual ‘NEC Directive Status’ and ‘Air Quality in Europe’ reports, to be published by mid-2013, will further analyse the recent data reported by EU member states. Moreover, the European Commission is expected to publish a proposal for a revised NEC Directive in the autumn of this year, potentially calling for stricter emission ceilings for 2020 or beyond in order to further protect health and the environment.