According to a report published by the European Environment Agency (EEA), in summer 2011, exceedances of ozone targets were lower than average. However, the long-term objective was exceeded in all EU Member States and it is likely many of them will not meet the target value, applicable as of 2010.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) annual report on summer ozone levels which covered from April to September 2011, and was based on data from 2,186 monitoring sites across Europe, shows that in the summer of 2011, the ‘information threshold’ and the ‘long term objective’ (LTO) for the protection of human health were both exceeded in the lowest proportion of air monitoring stations since the start of comprehensive Europe-wide data reporting in 1997. But, the information threshold (a one-hour ozone concentration of 180 μg/m3) was exceeded at monitoring sites in 16 EU Member States and four non-member countries. In 2001, the expectations were for 2010 that many EU countries exceed the emissions ceilings for at least one pollutant, ozone or particulates.

The Agency also reported that the LTO for the protection of human health (maximum daily eight-hour mean concentration of 120 μg/m3) was exceeded in all EU Member States. This limit was exceeded on more than 25 days in a significant part of Europe. Moreover, the alert threshold (a one-hour average ozone concentration of 240 μg/m3) was exceeded 41 times. Concentrations of 300 µg/m3 or more were measured three times in 2011, in Bulgaria, Italy and Spain.

In the light of these findings, Jacqueline McGlade, EEA's Director highlighted that exceedances of ozone targets is still one of the most serious air pollutants in Europe. Air pollution affects people’s quality of life. On the other hand, ozone concentrations in a particular country are also influenced by emissions in other northern hemisphere countries and by sectors such as international shipping and aviation. Thus, ozone pollution is not only a local air quality issue but also a hemispheric and global problem.