Published:
19 May 2008 - A preliminary analysis of
data reported under the EU National Emission
Ceilings Directive (NEC Directive) by Member
States at the end of 2007 indicates that
more countries anticipate missing one or
more of their legally-binding 2010 emission
ceilings compared to last year.
The NEC Directive requires
all Member States to annually report information
concerning emissions and projections for
four main air pollutants: sulphur dioxide
(SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane
volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), and
ammonia (NH3). These pollutants harm both
human health and the environment by contributing
to formation of ozone and particulate matter
and leading to acidification and eutrophication.
The NEC Directive sets pollutant-specific
and legally-binding emission ceilings (limits)
for each country to be met by 2010.
As was noted last year,
the emission ceiling for NOx remains the
most difficult for many MS to meet. Hungary,
the Netherlands and the United Kingdom now
indicate that they will not reach their
NOx ceilings by 2010 on the basis of policy
measures they have put in place to date.
This means that 13 out of 27 Member States
anticipate missing their NOx ceilings -unless
they take further measures to reduce emissions.
Five Member States (Denmark,
France, Portugal, Spain and now also Poland)
indicate they will miss their respective
NMVOC ceilings; two countries their NH3
ceilings (Germany and Spain) and one, the
Netherlands, its SO2 ceiling.
Overall, 15 countries
have now indicated they will miss at least
one of the four emission ceilings. It is
however noted that several Member States
(Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands)
reported data indicating that, by implementing
additional measures, they could still reach
their 2010 emissions ceilings. In addition,
by 2010 a number of countries will have
successfully reduced emissions of certain
pollutants significantly beyond the levels
required by the NEC Directive ceilings i.e.
they will have over achieved compared to
their original commitments for these pollutants.
The data reported in
2007 includes for the first time data for
the two new Member States, Bulgaria and
Romania, which joined the European Union
on 1 January 2007. Both anticipate meeting
their emission ceilings for all four pollutants.
