17 Amendments of Ulrike MÜLLER related to 2020/2091(INI)
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
B a. whereas there is a general improvement trend in air quality despite economic growth; whereas both road transport and industry have played a role in this process; whereas there is a positive trend as regards practical implementation of Member States’ obligation;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
B b. whereas for the last 29 years (1990 to 2018) the EU recorded reductions in emissions of all air pollutants; whereas the biggest fall was reported for sulphur oxides (SOx)which decreased by 90%, followed by non-methane volatile organic compounds(NMVOC) and nitrous oxides (NOx), which declined roughly by 60 % and 55 % respectively; whereas emissions of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) decreased by almost half since the year 1990. and ammonia (NH3) emissions by roughly one quarter1a; _________________ 1awww.ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics- explained/index.php?title=Air_pollution_s tatistics_- _emission_inventories&oldid=403107
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B c (new)
Recital B c (new)
B c. whereas there was a significant reduction of all air pollutants in road transport despite an increase in passenger and freight transport1a; _________________ 1a EEA 2020
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recognises that while the EU Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directives have been effective in setting common EU air quality standards and facilitating the exchange of information on air quality, they have failed tobeen partially effectively in reduceing air pollution and to curb its adverse effects; draws attention to the fact that a high number of Member States do not fully comply with current air quality standards and have not taken enough action to improve air quality and keep exceedances to a minimum; welcomes that the Commissions plans to provide an inventory of the measures of Members States; points out that there are many ambiguities in the AAQD for the requirements for measuring points and that these lead to questions on the representativeness and comparability of the results;
Amendment 67 #
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 align them more closely with WHO standards, highlights the difference between the EU standards being binding requirements and the WHO levels being guidelines, suggests to focus on the enforcement of already existing standards and only then to carefully assess new WHO standards; points out that additional obligations must also be practicable and implementable with the existing technical and financial possibilities; suggest that in the future economic efficiency and socioeconomic concerns would have to be taken into account to a greater extent than in the past when setting limit values, so as not to place an additional burden on the general public; in addition, limit values should take into account national differences in population density, urbanization, industrial sites and the like;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Recommends that the Commission should first assess whether revised air quality standards should also cover other non-regulated pollutants with relevant health impacts in the EU; 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,enforcing already existing ambitious quality standards for all air pollutants; before suggesting new standards;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Stresses the need to guarantee that air quality is being measured equally and comparably by the Member States in appropriate locations and at emissions sources, in order to avoid underestimation of air pollution; calls on the Member States to improve their monitoring networks, and on the Commission to enforce the obligations of the Directive in this regard and have representative results; calls on Commission to enforce the obligations of the Directive in this regard and making sure that the sampling points are comparable and representative for a specific area, including by providing support to Member States in setting up a mix of monitoring stations, sampling points and passive sampling points to guarantee representative results and to avoid systemic shortcomings, the training and hiring of experts, and ensuring greater accuracy in inspection, control and monitoring;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Acknowledges the fact that Member States have established an air quality monitoring network based on common criteria defined by the AAQ Directives, with more than 4 000 monitoring stations and 16 000 sampling points; points out that site location provisions involve multiple criteria and offer a degree of flexibility which can make verificationEU wide comparability and representativeness of results more difficult, and which often generate data that does not provide information on where the highest concthat are representrations of air pollutants occurve for a specific area; urges the Commission to review and establish new mandatory rules for locating monitoring stations and sampling points that ensure representativeness of the sampling points for a specific area and comparability with other sampling point in all members states; suggests to introduce a combination of fixed monitoring and modelling accompanied by passive sampling, because the high variability of air pollutants is difficult to grasp with fixed monitoring sites; calls on the Commission to set up criteria for "general population exposure" and provisions for the representativeness of monitoring sites;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5 a. Stresses that real-time data on air quality would improve monitoring immensely; points out that the Commission should always consider the most recent technical measuring systems, norms and standards;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Stresses that the AAQ Directives do not focus on reducing emissions in places where people suffer most from air pollution, or where concentrations are highest, and that concrete action in this area is neededshould rather focus on concentration of whole areas and representative concentrations than on single sampling points; notes that lower socio- economic groups are more exposed to air pollution because they are more likely to live close to sources of heavy pollution, both outdoor, such as traffic and industrial areas, and indoor, such as the combustion of low-quality solid fuels for domestic heating; underlines in this regard the need to better reflect human exposure to air pollution in EU law, and urges the Commission to include new indicators in air quality indices, such as population density around monitoring stations and sampling points to ensure that the results are representative for the area;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes that confinement measures to control the spread of pandemic led to a drastictemporary decrease in emissions and air pollution, thus clearly showing the impact of human activities on the environment; suggests to analyse all measures to understand the impact of these; notes with regret that continuous exposure to air pollution may worsen the impact of respiratory viruses such as COVID-19; underlines that fighting air pollution must be at the core of the EU recovery plan, and that mandatory and effectively enforced air quality requirements are key to guaranteeing citizens’ health and improving their resilience against future health threats;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. WelcomesTakes note of the announcement of the Commission’s Zero Pollution Action Plan; highlights that zero pollution is technically difficult; calls on the Commission to consider all technical solutions to help to reduce emissions in a technology neutral way; emphasises that air pollution is a burden that requires a holistic evidence-based approach; 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 onhighlight that emission reduction in all sectors, climate, energy, transport, industry, agriculture and waste, is important 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; notes that driving restrictions are ineffective in health protection as they have little effect on the vehicle fleet or on city-wide emissions;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Urges the Commission and the Member States to strengthenassess all emissions legislation; for their effectiveness and proportionality, underlines that reducing emissions at source is the onlye effective way to guarantee clean air; points out that also other technical solutions should be taken into account; 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 maritimhowever that measures are currently underway and their effect should be waited for before considering a tightening of the new NEC directive; stresses the need for stringent measures to reduce emissions in all sectors like transport, aviation, industrial installations, buildings, agriculture and energy production; calls for a coherent approach in GHG and emission regulations; points out possible trade-offs between the reduction of CO2 and other air pollutants; stresses the principle of technology neutrality and other innovative solutions, as e.g. filtrations in vehicles and on streets; fleet renewal, and the like;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10 a. Stresses that innovation and research in low-emission and emission- reducing technologies will help to reduce emissions in all sectors; urges the Commission to honour the principle of technology neutrality; highlights the positive impact of Euro5/6 on the improvement of NOx emissions; notes that fleet renewal will bring huge improvements to air quality; points out that even full electrification of the car fleet does not clear the air from particle matters (e.g. tyres and brakes abrasion); calls on the Commission to duly assess possible trade-offs between CO2 emissions and air quality before proposing new and additional regulations;
Amendment 189 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes that Air Quality Plans (AQPs), a key requirement of the AAQ Directives in cases when Member States do not comply with air quality standards, are often ineffective in terms of delivering their expected resultscould be better targeted; calls on the Commission to establish a set of minimum requirements and share best practices for both the drafting and implementation of AQPs; points out that more harmonisation and comparable and proportionate measures in all member states would increase the acceptance of those measures; recalls that AQPs are best done locally as to take into account local situations;
Amendment 198 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Regrets the factNotes members states produce public annual reports for all pollutants covered by this Directive and report yearly to the Commission according to Art 27; regrets that the AAQ Directive neither requires Member States to report on the implementation of AQPs to the Commission nor to update them when new measures are adopted or when the progress is insufficient; calls on the Commission to establish a yearly reporting obligation for the implementation of AQPs without increasing bureaucracy; suggests a more pragmatic approach which drives the trend in a positive way, by providing incentives rather than obligations;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Urges the Commission to update the AAQ Directives to include explicit provisions that guarantee the right of citizens to justice in linePoints out that in October 2020 the Commission has presented a proposal for a revision of the Aarhus Regulation; stresses that all matters related to the Aarhus Convention should be dealt with in the Aarhus ConventionRegulation directly;