London must adapt to EU air quality law

12.18.15pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 15th Apr 2008

Sarah protesting against aviation pollution.

This week the EU Council approved a new EU Air Quality Directive agreed between ministers and MEPs, which sets tougher targets for air pollution emissions.

London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford, speaking after a visit to a west London school under the Heathrow flight path, called for London to respond immediately with more effective measures and plans to clean up the city's atmosphere:

"London's rulers - the Mayor, London councils and the government - need to realise that a failure to meet the targets will result in legal action and fines. There must be action now to meet the targets which will come into force in 2015."

"This new legislation also casts severe doubt over the government's aim for a third runway at Heathrow. Heathrow already causes existing EU air quality limits to be dramatically exceeded. Hundreds of thousands more flights would certainly mean the UK finding itself named, shamed and fined before the courts for breach of EU law."

The directive agreed today merges five EU laws into a single directive on air quality. Its main new element is the setting of standards and deadlines for reducing fine particles known as PM2.5, which together with coarser particles known as PM10 already subject to legislation, are among the most dangerous pollutants for human health.

The Directive does not change existing air quality standards for coarse particles, nitrogen dioxide and benzene. It allows flexibility in meeting these standards but only provided that EU legislation on pollution prevention and control is fully implemented, and that all appropriate abatement measures are being taken. In practice this is a tougher test as states like the UK are not currently complying.