Congrats, Clean Air BXL & Client Earth!

The European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of the citizens & Client Earth taking Brussels region to court over air quality! BRAL congratulates Clean Air Brussels and Client Earth on this important decision in their case.

The court ruled that "Compliance with air pollution limits must be assessed at monitoring stations where people’s exposure to pollution is the greatest, not with an average across an area."

The head of the clean air team of Client Earth, Ugo Taddei, said: “We’re very happy with the court’s decision. Brussels citizens have a right to clean air and they can breathe a little bit easier knowing that Europe’s top court has upheld that right today. The Brussels authorities must now adopt an air quality plan which meets legal standards and monitor the air quality in a way that gives an accurate picture of the levels of air pollution in the city.”

One of the claimants in the case, Lies Craeynest said: “We are delighted that the Court of Justice confirmed today what we have known for a long time: we are entitled to take our government to court to ensure they monitor air quality accurately and provide us with accurate information."

The next step is the Brussels' court to give the final verdict.

More info: 

• Follow the timeline of the courtcase here: http://www.cleanairbxl.be/. The case started on 21 September 2016, almost three years ago!
• Facebook Clean Air BXL: https://www.facebook.com/CleanAirBXL/posts/913073272368661
• Details in the press release: https://www.clientearth.org/clean-air-closer-for-brussels-after-top-eu-court-ruling/.