"The European Commission sends final warnings to Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom for failing to address repeated breaches of air pollution limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO2). NO2 pollution is a serious health risk. Most emissions result from road traffic," the EU Commission said in a press release.
The commission stressed that the United Kingdom failed to address persistent breaches of nitrogen dioxide limit values in 16 areas, including London, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow.
According to the press release, there are 28 air quality zones with repeated air pollution breaches in Germany, 19 zones in France, 12 in Italy and three in Spain.
"Possible measures to lower polluting emissions, at the same time accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy, include reducing overall traffic volumes, the fuels used, switching to electric cars and/or adapting driving behaviour," the press release said, adding that reducing emissions from diesel-powered vehicles was an important step toward meeting EU air quality requirements.
According to early February statistics, issued by The Healthy Air Campaign, about 29,000 premature deaths are caused by poor air quality in the United Kingdom. The 2016 statistics showed that some 40,000 early deaths per year were caused by air pollution.
The EU legislation on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe, setting air quality limits for the EU states and envisaging legal action in case of breaches, came into effect in 2008. So far, 12 EU member states are subjected to infringement cases, namely, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.
