Air pollution is one of the oldest environmental concerns addressed by the EU. In 1973, the European Economic Community, the EU’s predecessor, adopted the first Environmental Action Programme. The programme acknowledged environmental problems that cities at the time were facing, such as construction- and traffic-related pollution. The programme called for, among other things:

"... harmonization of the methods and instruments used to monitor the various pollutants either individually or in combination, so as to render comparable the data obtained from measurements of these pollutants and of their effects."

In 1996, the Council Directive 96/62/EC provided a framework to assess and manage ambient air quality with the aim of limiting pollution’s harmful effect on public health and the environment. A set of common methods and criteria were introduced to obtain comparable, cross-country data. The framework’s scope covers: 

• Limit and target values for pollution concentration
• Locations and a minimum number of sampling points
• Techniques for reference measurement, sampling, and modeling

The Directive also requires that access to information on ambient air quality is provided to the public, especially when alert thresholds are exceeded.

Additional policies on ambient air quality were adopted in 2004 (Directive 2004/107/EC), 2008 (Directive 2008/50/EC), 2011 (Commission Implementing Decision 2011/850/EU), and 2015 (Commission Directive 2015/1480).

In 2022, the European Commission proposed a revision (COM/2022/542) of existing legislation on air quality to ensure better alignment with the European Green Deal and international recommendations, namely WHO Air Quality Guidelines. Currently, there are differences in annual limits set by the EU and WHO for different pollutants. These will change in the revised directive, which means limits for pollutants like particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) will be reduced by more than half.

The difference between EU and WHO annual limit values for PM and NO2

Some other proposed changes include:

• Increasing the number of sampling points to make network coverage representative of exposure to air pollution faced by sensitive populations and vulnerable groups
• Providing accurate information on ambient air quality and its effects to the public in a way that is easy to understand, especially by at-risk communities

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