Review of the EU Air Legislation

The issue

The European Commission's 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution established objectives for the protection of human health and the environment from the adverse impacts of air pollution.

As a follow-up of the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution, the Commission discussed the progress on the EU's air policy and recognised the pressing need and for a joint efforts of the Commission, Member States and stakeholders to review the EU's air policy by 2013 (Commission Staff Working Document (SEC(2011)342)).

In the 2013, the 'EU year of the air', the European Commission is currently conducting a comprehensive review of EU air pollution policy. The EC4MACS toolbox provides the backbone for scientific analyses to identify practical measures that achieve further improvements in air quality in the most cost-effective way.

Based on the EC4MACS Final Assessment, the project team has been commissioned to refine the analyses with more recent economic and energy scenarios, as well as improved information provided by national teams.

Results of these policy analyses, which incorporate later information on , have been presented to the European Commission and stakeholders in a series of reports, and are available at http://gains.iiasa.ac.at/TSAP.