Latest News About England: UK facing lawsuit from European commission over failure to cut pollution

jueves, 20 de febrero de 2014

UK facing lawsuit from European commission over failure to cut pollution

Commission says UK is in breach of EU law having failed to present plan for areas regularly exceeding air pollution limits

The European commission has launched legal action against the UK for its failure to cut excessive levels of air pollution.

Limits on nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas which mostly comes from traffic fumes, should have been met by January 2010.

Nitrogen dioxide leads to the formation of ground-level ozone, causing respiratory problems and premature death, with city-dwellers particularly at risk in the face of high levels of traffic.

The supreme court has already declared that air pollution limits are regularly exceeded in 16 zones across the UK, the commission said.

Extensions have been agreed with a number of EU countries with "credible and workable" plans for improving air quality, to allow them until 1 January 2015 to meet the limits.

But the commission said the UK had not presented any such plan for the areas in question, which are Greater London, the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Teesside, the Potteries, Hull, Southampton, Glasgow, the east, the south-Eeast, the east Midlands, Merseyside, Yorkshire & Humberside, the West Midlands and the north-east.

As a result the commission said it was of the opinion the UK was in breach of its obligations under EU law on air pollution, and it had sent a letter of formal notice to the government which has two months to respond.

If the UK fails to cut pollution it could face a legal process which could result in significant fines.

The launch of legal proceedings by the European commission was welcomed by campaigners, who called for tough action to tackle air pollution in the UK.

Friends of the Earth campaigner Jenny Bates said: "This much-needed legal action will hopefully force the government to take urgent steps to end a national scandal that causes tens of thousands of people to die prematurely each year because of air pollution.

"The government, mayor of London and local authorities must now take tough and rapid measures, such as reducing traffic levels, rather than increasing road-capacity.

James Thornton, chief executive of environmental lawyers ClientEarth who brought the case to the supreme court, said: "We have the right to breathe clean air and the government has a legal duty to protect us from air pollution.

"The commission has singled out the UK following the supreme court's landmark decision last year. The UK has some of the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide in Europe."

LA spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: "Air quality has improved significantly in recent decades. Just like for other member states, meeting the NO2 limit values alongside busy roads has been a challenge.

"That is why we are investing heavily in transport measures to improve air quality around busy roads and we are working with the commission to ensure this happens as soon as possible."

The commission is currently taking action against 17 countries over air quality problems, but this is the first to address limits of nitrogen dioxide.