The Commission has recognised in a Communication dated on 1st april 2008 the need to reduce the emissions of harmful air pollutants if significant progress is to be delivered towards the objectives established in the 6th Environmental Action Programme. The Commission's communication on a Thematic Strategy on air pollution sets out a significant number of possible Community measures. 

For 2008 the EC is working in the following priority areas:

• The Commission has adopted a proposal for new legislation to improve the effectiveness of Community industrial emissions legislation including intensive agricultural installations and measures to tackle smaller scale industrial combustion sources;
• The Commission has adopted a proposal for new legislation limiting the exhaust emissions of engines installed in heavy duty vehicles;

New legislative proposals that would:

• further reduce the Member States' permitted national emissions of key pollutants;
• reduce emissions associated with refuelling of petrol cars at service stations;
• address the sulphur content of fuels including marine fuels;

Preparatory work is also underway to investigate the feasibility of:

• improving the eco-design and reducing the emissions of domestic boilers and water heaters;
• reducing the solvent content of paints, varnishes and vehicle refinishing products;
• reducing the exhaust emissions of non-road mobile machinery and thereby maximise the benefit of lower sulphur non-road fuels already proposed by the Commission;

The Commission also continues to push for substantial emissions reductions from ships at the International Maritime Organization and it is committed to bringing forward proposals for Community measures should the IMO fail to deliver sufficiently ambitious proposals as foreseen in 2008.
 

Why is necessary those measures?

Air pollution has very strong adverse health effects. According to the latest scientific and health evidence, presented in the Commission Communication on Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution , only exposure to fine particulate matter PM2.5 in ambient air is responsible for the reduction of the statistical life expectancy of average EU citizen by more than 8 months. In its proposal the Commission thus introduces specific environmental standards for fine particulate matter PM2.5 in ambient air. Their implementation should significantly contribute to reaching objective of the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution which is to reduce the number of life years lost in Europe due to exposure to particulate matter by 47% in the period between 2000 and 2020.