Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-10-Speech-1-096"
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"en.20071210.17.1-096"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner, fellow Members, every year 370 000 people in Europe die prematurely from illnesses associated with air pollution. According to the Commission’s official figures, life expectancy in some European countries has shown a decline of between eight months and two years as a result of exposure to dangerous airborne pollutants. The great majority of deaths are due to fine airborne particulates. My political group supports the final conciliation agreement and the hesitant, but at any rate positive steps which it takes in response to this situation.
However, I would like to focus on some serious weaknesses: the limits set by this conciliation for fine airborne particulates are more than double the relevant WHO recommendations. The US Environmental Protection Agency sets stricter limits than the European Union. No agreement has been reached on safer limits for fine airborne particulates (PM10). Monitoring requirements have been reduced, although constant monitoring of critical pollutant loads is very important for improving the situation.
The compliance deadlines for benzene have been put back, leaving the big culprit, fuel quality, untouched. Although everyone says we need improved fuels and cleaner cars, air quality and its monitoring in the workplace have been exempted. Furthermore, the Member States are given considerable leeway not to enforce the existing legislation and not to monitor its correct enforcement. We are making a positive step, then, but it is not enough, and for exactly this reason my political group is supporting the European Parliament’s conciliation agreement but at the same time asking the Council and Commission to take bolder steps."@en1
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