Brussels, 12 January 2015 – Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), will this week be debating their position on the 2015 Commission Work Programme. As leading environmental, health, lawyers’ and civil society organisations from all over Europe, we call upon MEPs to oppose any delay in the negotiations on a revised National Emissions Ceilings (NEC) Directive.
To Members of the European Parliament
Dear Honourable Member of the European Parliament,
When presenting the 2015 Commission Work Programme in Strasbourg on 16 December, Mr. Timmermans sent a very confused message on the Commission’s intention with regards to air policy.
On the occasion of the 17 December Environment Council, national environment ministers reacted strongly, asking the Commission “to keep working on all the elements of the clean air package”.
It is now absolutely necessary that the European Parliament adopts a joint resolution asking for the ongoing negotiations on the revised NEC Directive to continue and not be delayed.
Given the widespread harmful impacts of air pollution throughout the European Union, any withdrawal or delay of the revised proposal would be unacceptable. The Commission’s current proposal would save as many as 58,000 premature deaths per year due to less air pollution, when the current toll is 400,000 premature deaths per year. It would also bring health benefits of €40-140 billion in avoided external costs and provide about €3 billion in direct benefits due to higher productivity of the workforce, lower healthcare costs, higher crop yields and less damage to buildings. Recent analyses have shown that a more ambitious directive would bring important additional benefits.
Thank you for your support.
Yours sincerely,
Jeremy Wates
Secretary General of the European Environmental Bureau
On behalf of:
Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat (AirClim)
Client Earth
European Environmental Bureau (EEB)
European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients Associations (EFA)
European Public Health Alliance (EPHA)
European Respiratory Society (ERS)
Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL)
Transport and Environment (T&E)
