7 Amendments of Stanislav POLČÁK related to 2020/2091(INI)
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk in Europe2 , affecting all regions, socioeconomic and age groups unevenly, causing nearly 400 000 premature deaths per year, and is linked to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, strokes and cancer3 ; _________________ 2‘Ambient Air Pollution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease’, World Health Organization, 2016. 3‘Air quality in Europe - 2020’, Report No. 09/20, European Environment Agency, 2020. ,with recent studies associating air pollution also with dementia1a, child brain structural alterations and cognitive impairment2a, and diabetes mortality3a ; _________________ 1aChen, H. et al. Living near major roads and the incidence of dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis: a population based cohort study 389, 718–726 (2017). 2‘Ambient Air Pollution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease’, World Health Organization, 2016. 2aGuxens, M. et al. Air Pollution Exposure During Fetal Life, Brain Morphology, and Cognitive Function in School-Age Children.Biological Psychiatry 1–9 (2018). 3‘Air quality in Europe - 2020’, Report No. 09/20, European Environment Agency, 2020. 3aLim, C. C. et al. Association between long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and diabetes mortality in the US. Environmental research 165, 330–336 (2018)
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that AAQ Directives are based on air quality standards that are now 15 to 20 years old, and that some of them are much weaker than current World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and the levels suggested by the latest scientific evidence on human health impacts; welcomes the commitment made in the European Green Deal to revise air quality standards and caligls on them more closely with Commission to periodically review the Directives in order to fully align them with regularly updated WHO standards;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recommends that revised air quality standards should also cover other non-regulated pollutants with relevant health impacts in the EU and short-term standards for PM2.5 and alert thresholds for PM 1a; highlights the EU’s ambition to lead the transition to a healthy planet, and recalls that in order to become a global leader it should lead by example by adopting, inter alia, ambitious quality standards for all air pollutants; _________________ 1aas recommended by auditors -outlined in the conclusions of the study by the EPRS, 2021: EU policy on air quality :Implementation of selected EU legislation, page 38
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Welcomes the announcement of the Commission’s Zero Pollution Action Plan; emphasises that air pollution is a burden that requires a holistic approach as negatively impacts also on land and water life by means of eutrophication and acidification; alerts that any new measures will be worthless if air quality is not properly prioritised and mainstreamed in all EU policies, including EU emission source legislation, such as on climate, energy, transport, industry, agriculture and waste, while ensuring better synergies between all policy areas; calls on the Commission and the Member States to cooperate more closely in all areas and at all levels in order to help local authorities achieve cleaner air;
Amendment 168 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Commission and the Member States to strengthen all emissions legislation; underlines that reducing emissions at source is the only effective way to guarantee clean air; alerts that most Member States will not comply with their 2020 and 2030 emissions reduction commitments established under the NEC directive; stresses the need for stringent measures to reduce transport emissions, particularly road and maritime transport, aviation, industrial installations, including intensive livestock sector, agriculture and energy production;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Expresses concern over the practice of constructing new industrial installations with a capacity just below the Industrial Emissions Directive thresholds to purposefully leave them outside the scope of the Directive; Further highlights that certain industrial livestock installations were intentionally left out of the scope of the IED to prevent red tape1a; Disagrees with the Commission and asks for an inclusion of a lower, meaningful minimum threshold for intensive rearing of poultry, pigs and additionally also cattle, as these are an important source of air, soil and water pollution; _________________ 1aas in the study by the EPRS, 2021: "EU policy on air quality: Implementation of selected EU legislation", page 33-34; Some of these intensive livestock activities (such as cattle and poultry) emit pollutants such as ammonia (a precursor to PM2.5) and thus have a negative impact on air quality. The Commission also explains that these activities were not included in the scope of the directive because of a "previous impact assessment", which found that the full IED permitting process was not appropriate for some of these activities (e.g. cattle) because of the red tape it would involve.
Amendment 210 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Alerts that as of October 2019, 32 infringement procedures against 20 Member States remained pending; considers that persistent and systemic1a exceedances of air quality standards by Member States indicate their lack of commitment to adopting more effective measures, and the ineffectiveness of the current enforcement procedure; urges the Commission to review the current enforcement procedure for the AAQ Directives; _________________ 1ae.g. the referrals to the Court of Justice in the December 2020 infringement package highlight systemic and continuous exceedance going on for years: in this particular case in one member state between 2005-2019/(with the exception of year 2013) and 2015- 2019 in the case of another