Portugal, Spain, Italy, Cyprus in EU dock over air pollution

Wed, 24 Nov 2010

Brussels - Portugal, Spain, Italy and Cyprus are to face European Union court proceedings over their failure to curb air pollution, the bloc's executive said Wednesday.

EU law has obliged since 2005 its member states to reduce airborne particles below specific annual and daily reference values.

But in a statement, the European Commission said the thresholds "have not been respected in several zones" of the four accused countries.

Authorities can ask for a waiver from the EU rules, but only if they submit air quality plans aiming to redress the situation. In the case of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Cyprus those plans were deemed insufficient.

As a result, a referral to the European Court of Justice was decided, which could lead to hefty fines if judges agree with the commission's stance.

Airborne particles are produced by industry, traffic and domestic heating, and can cause asthma, lung cancer and heart problems, the commission indicated.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/355058,eu-dock-air-pollution.html.