Every Breath You Take (May Slowly Kill You). EU’s Big Air Pollution Problem
Nine European Union Member States – the Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom – could face legal action for failing to make progress on reducing air pollution. All the countries were invited to submit proposals on how they expect to improve air quality on their territories and meet EU standards by the EU Commissioner for Environment Karmenu Vella during the Air Quality Ministerial Summit held in Brussels on 30th of January.
The suggested measures, including Germany’s suggestion to make public transport free of charge in highly polluted cities and the Italian plan to spend EUR 6.5 billion on air quality improvements, will now be discussed by the European Commission (EC). The final decision whether or not to launch legal action against the above mentioned Member States will be made by mid-March 2018. All the nine countries have already received a Reasoned Opinion and are currently in the last stage of the infringement procedure before their cases are taken to the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
A man puts a white mask on a dog during a protest against air pollution in Pristina Jan 31, 2018. Source: REUTERS/Hazir Reka
