Clash looms over watered down plan to curb ozone

Date: 05/10/00

By Gareth Harding

ENVIRONMENT ministers are expected to take a major step towards ridding Europe's towns and cities of summer smog by adopting far-reaching rules aimed at curbing ozone levels next week.

But MEPs and green groups say the proposals do not do enough to tackle one of the Union's most pressing environmental problems.

Ground-level ozone, formed when a cocktail of exhaust pollutants mixes with sunlight, is believed to be responsible for thousands of deaths across Europe each year. High ozone levels not only trigger serious respiratory problems among vulnerable groups but also destroy vegetation and contribute to global warming.

The European Commission has proposed limiting the amount of ozone in the lower atmosphere to 120 micrograms per cubic metre, a level unlikely to pose a threat to human health or vegetation. EU governments have no problem with this target, but are expected to demand permission to exceed the limit more often than Brussels is prepared to accept.

The Commission is calling on member states to reduce the number of times they overshoot the ceiling to 20 per year within the next decade. But southern countries which currently breach the suggested target up to 50 times a year believe this is too ambitious and want the limit increased.

A compromise brokered by the French presidency would allow member states to exceed the limits up to 25 times a year. Countries such as Spain and Italy initially pushed for up to 40, but are expected to accept the compromise next Tuesday (10 October). "You cannot tell the people of the Mediterranean they do not need as strict protection as the Scandinavians," said one official.

If ministers accept the French proposal, as expected, they face a fierce battle with MEPs, who strongly support the limits proposed by the Commission. The Parliament is also calling for the targets to be made legally binding and for 2020 to be set in stone as the date by which no breaches of the new limit should be allowed.

Ministers are almost certain to reject both demands at their meeting next week, prompting head-to-head talks between the EU institutions early next year.

Environment ministers are expected to take a major step towards ridding Europe's towns and cities of summer smog by adopting far-reaching rules aimed at curbing ozone levels at a meeting on 10.10.00.