Companies in transport sector call on governments to back stricter air pollution limits

Despite improvements over the past decade, air pollution remains a major environmental threat to human health and is bad for Europe’s economy as it is estimated to cost Europe €15 billion in lost working days every year.

In a letter to EU governments, 15 companies and associations – representing more than 100 transport sector companies – call for stricter air pollution limits. They believe that every European citizen should have access to a healthy and safe environment, including the right to breathe clean air. They stand ready to support the EU’s vision towards Zero Air Pollution by 2050.

As a key part of this policy framework, the companies and associations strongly support the Commission’s objective to strengthen the Ambient Air Quality Directive and the European air quality standards by 2030, and also to align them with the 2021 World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by 2035.

They call on national governments to support an ambitious revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directive at least in line with the level of ambition adopted by the European Parliament in its vote on September 13, and to adopt their position by November at the latest, so that negotiations on the final law can be concluded before the end of the current EU Commission and Parliament mandates.