French Pollution Above EU Limits
The European justice has estimated that France has passed, in a “systematic and persistant” way, since 2010, the required limits of air quality governing nitrogen dioxide. This is a gas mainly from diesel engines.
In late October the European Commission came to the conclusion after nearly a decade of warnings. Along with France, Brussels has taken action against the United Kingdom and Germany as well.
The latest European Environment Agency report of air quality, also from October, states that nitrogen oxide (NO2) is responsible for 68,000 premature deaths per year in the EU, of which 7,500 are in France.
The Justice’s decision opens the possibility for further sanctions if France takes no action to alleviate the problem.
“The government is determined to rapidly and sustainably improve air quality, which is a public health and environmental imperative,” said the French Ministry of Ecological and Inclusive Transition, in a press release.
The European commission, for its part, affirmed that it would continue to work “in close cooperation” with France “to ensure that it takes the necessary measures.”
24 zones and urban areas in France have exceeded this level of NO2 pollution, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Nice, and Strasbourg, as well as the Arve valley, gateway to the Mont Blanc massif and the tourist destination of Chamonix.
In the particular case of the Arve valley, it is the main and only major transit route to northern Italy from eastern France, and passes through the Mont Blanc Tunnel.
The French government claims that NO2 emissions did fall 54% between 2010 and 2018 and the number of areas above the legal limit were halved in that same time period.
France does not dispute the charge, rather it focused its messaging on the European legislation governing air quality, which it claims does not take into adequate account “structural difficulties” relevant to each member country, according to the CJEU in a press release.
The EU legislation stipulates that in the event that a country exceeds the agreed-upon limits of NO2, that country must provide to the EU a plan for remedy.
France was accused by the court to have “manifestly” ignored this mandate. The French government is highlighting a number of measures already taken such as renewal of its automotive fleet, development of electrical charging stations, and supporting green home renovations.
NGO ClientEarth noted that this is the first time the CJEU has taken action for NO2, though it has in past tried to enforce limits on fine particle emission.
Along with France, 20 other EU member states have been given notice of exceeding regulated limits.
