7 July 2010
MEPs today adopted stricter rules on air pollution, but left EU Member States some flexibility to extend deadlines for power plants or even waive the rules for certain specific installations.
The Industrial Emissions Directive, which today received its 2nd reading in the European Parliament, aims to improve health and the environment, while making the rules clearer and easier to implement. It updates and merges seven pieces of existing legislation, including directives on large combustion plants and Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), the latter covering around 52,000 industrial and agricultural installations with a high pollution potential, from refineries to pig farms.
Air pollution targets: extra time for some power stations
Stricter limits on nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and dust will be introduced from 2016. MEPs agreed, however, that Member States can use ‘transitional national plans’ to allow large combustion plants (including fossil fuel power stations) up to July 2020 to meet the rules. Some older plants may not have to meet the targets at all, as long as they close by the end of 2023 or run for 17,500 operating hours after 2016, whichever happens first. Newer power stations must still meet the 2012 deadline that applies to them.
Next steps
The Council of Ministers also needs to rubber stamp the text, after which Member States will be required to implement the Directive in national statute.
See here for full press release.
Extracts from Tuesday evening's debate in Strasbourg (UK speakers)
Chris Davies MEP (LibDem, North West): The legislation that we put in force has to be applied equally and effectively across the European Union if we are to protect the environment, and if we are to ensure that certain countries do not gain a competitive advantage by not investing in the improvements that are necessary to make that possible.
...We have now recast this legislation. We have not perhaps relaxed it, but we have addressed the fact that the first measure failed to be applied by Member States. Member States have got off the hook. My Member State, the United Kingdom, has got off the hook. It has not done what Germany did.
So, I ask the Commissioner in his response to tell us exactly – to put on the record – what is there in this new legislation that will ensure that Member States actually do what they are required to do?
Martin Callanan MEP (Conservative, North East): We have reached, in the end, what is an acceptable compromise. Nobody got what they wanted – perhaps that is the mark of good European legislation but it is a bit of a messy fudge – and nobody is happy. Member States are not particularly happy. Certainly some Members of this House are very unhappy.
...The compromises reached are, in my view, a good balance between, on the one hand, protecting the environment but, on the other, taking into account some of the quite legitimate concerns held by some Member States that forcing a lot of coal plants to close early would actually be a bad thing for the environment – what would the power be replaced by? We have our long term emissions legislation and directives to meet, which would be compromised by forcing too many plants to close early, and at the end of the day all the improvements we want to see have to be paid for by somebody. At the end of the day, that is always the consumer.