Coalition for Healthy Air treats European Commission to cake

12/05/2023

Pers

Mobility

"Procrastination on infringement procedure comes at the expense of Belgians' health"

On the morning of 12 May, several campaign groups and organizations presented a cake to the European Commission as a playful action to "congratulate" it on the seventh anniversary of the launch proceedings against the Belgian government over poor air quality. The campaigners also compelled the European Commission to base new air quality standards on the latest scientific and medical knowledge.

A procedure already ongoing for seven years

Originally, Belgium, like all other European countries, was supposed to provide air quality that met the minimum standards agreed upon at the European level by 2010. Because the air quality in Belgium was so poor, our country was exceptionally given time until 2015. But even in 2015, air quality was still substandard - especially in Brussels and Antwerp. That is why the European Commission launched an infringement procedure in 2016, which is still ongoing today.

According to several Belgian NGOs, the protracted procedure is to the detriment of the health of Belgians who are not served by a procedure that has already lasted seven years.

"The European Commission can no longer let this matter run its course and must take urgent action," said Inge Salden of the Antwerp-based action group Recht op Lucht.

Last year, this group released a scientific report showing that even in 2021, European standards were not met everywhere in Antwerp (1).

Elsewhere in Belgium, air quality also exceeds these standards in some places, as shown by the Irceline models (2). In Brussels, the CurieuzenAir project showed that 1.4% of Brussels residents are still exposed to illegal air quality (3).

An Macharis, from the Citizenne organization, said: "Taking some fresh air is simply impossible in our neighborhood".

Their organization is located on the Brussels ring road, where the highest NO2 concentration was measured during the CurieuzenAir project.

"Our lungs deserve better"

That Belgium still does not meet current standards is hallucinatory. Indeed, European countries are currently discussing new rules on air quality. Frans Timmermans, vice-president of the European Commission, has repeatedly warned that the rules will become stricter. "This is a good thing," says Tim Cassiers of BRAL, a member organization of HEAL, a European alliance of organizations working for the environment and health. (4) This coalition recently launched a petition (5) to urge the European institutions to base the new standards on the latest medical and scientific knowledge. They have already collected over 125,000 signatures.

It is the elderly and children, those whose health is fragile, who pay with their health the price of poor air quality in Europe. Just recently, the European Environment Agency announced that 1,200 children in Europe die every year from the effects of air pollution (6).

Eurocommissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius must take responsibility

The organizations are calling on EU Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius to act more decisively. It is imperative that the EU enforce its own legislation to hold the Belgian government accountable for taking the necessary steps to improve air quality.

"The office of EU Commissioner Sinkevičius is located on Rue de la Loi, one of the most unhealthy roads in Brussels. By enforcing its own legislation, the EU would also take responsibility for its own environment," said Tim Cassiers of BRAL.

Pierre, director of Chercheurs d'Air, concluded by saying: "Brussels, the capital of Belgium, but also of the EU, is the 8th most polluted city in Europe, in terms of nitrogen dioxide. This gas is very harmful to health. The European Commission must speed up the infringement procedure so that Belgium will seriously and quickly fulfill the task of protecting the health of its population from the risks of air pollution."

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