These particles, emitted mainly by industry, traffic and domestic heating, can cause asthma, cardiovascular problems, lung cancer and premature death. Slovenia and Sweden are being referred to the European Court of Justice, while final written warnings have been sent to Cyprus, Portugal and Spain. In a separate case, Bulgaria is receiving a final written warning over its failure to control concentration levels of sulphur dioxide.
The Commission's action follows the entry into force in June 2008 of the new EU Air Quality Directive, which allows member states to request, under certain conditions and for specific parts of the country, limited extra time to meet the PM10 standard which has been in force since 2005.
At the beginning of 2009, first warning letters were sent to member states that had by then not submitted notifications or had not notified the Commission about all air quality zones exceeding the limit values for PM10.
Following this warning, most of the member states involved submitted notifications for a time extension. Although Cyprus, Portugal and Spain did submit notifications for time extensions, the Commission rejected most of the notified air quality zones on the grounds that they did not meet all the conditions required by the Directive. The Commission has therefore decided to send a final written warning to the three member states.
EU Environment Commissioner Janez Potocnik stated that ''air pollution is bad for our health'' and that ''member states must comply with EU air quality standards quickly and reduce emissions.''
''I am pleased to see that over recent years we have met PM10 limit values in a number of areas throughout Europe, but much more effort is still needed if we want full compliance,'' he added.
(Cyprus Weekly)
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