European Commission recasts industrial emissions directive

In the 11th hour before the holiday break at the end of 2007, the Commission published their proposal for a Directive on Industrial Emissions, a recast that would collect the Directives on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC), Large Combustion Plants, Solvents, Waste Incineration and Titanium Dioxide together under one umbrella. The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) welcomes the proposal as a targeted attempt to address gaps in the provisions of the existing IPPC Directive, which paved the way for weak and divergent implementation across the EU.

In particular, EEB is pleased to see that authorities will be required to justify the inclusion of permitting emission limit values which do not reflect Best Available Techniques. "By limiting the parameters under which installations can apply less effective techniques and demanding public justifications for such applications, authorities will be able to crack down on installations emitting high levels of pollutants," said Catherine Ganzleben of EEB.

The proposal would also help address the need to amend emission limits under the sectoral directives. Lesley James, Acid Rain Campaigner for Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland, commented, "Under the current scenario in which IPPC is not being properly implemented, the objectives of the Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution are not being met. The Commission has now recognised that reversing this trend requires strict, legally binding emission limit values, especially for large combustion plants."

The EEB is pleased that the recast IPPC directive does not include a proposal for emissions trading of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, but warns that the issue is not completely dead. Catherine Ganzleben noted, "The Commission has indicated its intention to work on EU rules for an emissions trading scheme for sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. EEB opposes any scheme that would lead to trading of local pollutants that damage human health and the environment."

EEB hopes that during the coming months the Council and Parliament respect the recasting technique and limit any amendments to addressing provisions opened to substantive change by the Commission. Attempts to widen the scope of the review could lead to an erosion of the proposed Directive's key mechanisms for environmental protection and derail the recasting process.

The EEB is a federation of over 145 environmental citizens' organisations based in EU Member States and most accession countries. The main aim of the EEB is to protect and improve the environment of Europe and to promote knowledge and understanding of EU environmental and sustainable development policies amongst the general public in the EU to enable them to play their part in achieving that goal.