EU insists it will pursue legal action unless London takes urgent steps to tackle poor air quality
James Murray, BusinessGreen, 04 Jun 2010
Just days after mayor Boris Johnson moved to scale back the capital's congestion zone, the European Commission yesterday sent the government a final written warning instructing it to improve air quality in London or face fines of up to £300m.
The letter said that while a number of urban areas in the UK had now complied with EU air quality standards following the launch of legal action last year, the Greater London Urban Area and Gibraltar were still exceeding the limits for particulate matter known as PM10.
The UK submitted an exemption request for London and seven other zones last year, but that exemption was rejected by the commission on the grounds that the other zones had managed to comply with the rules and the plans in place for London meant that it would still not be able to comply with the limits on PM10s by the end of the exemption period in 2011.
The previous government reapplied for an exemption request solely for London last month to give the capital more time to comply with the rules. But the commission said that given the repeated failure to tackle the breaching of air quality standards, it was issuing the UK with a "final warning".
It added that if London now fails to take the measures necessary to tackle air pollution, the commission will refer the case to the European Court of Justice where fines of up to £300m a year could be imposed.
A spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office said that action was already being taken to improve air quality, expressing optimism that the latest exemption request would be accepted by the commission.
"The government made a submission to the European Commission last year seeking additional time to meet limit values," she said. "Since then the mayor has published an air quality strategy and the government has re-submitted additional information to the commission. We are therefore confident that these developments will address the concerns that triggered this legal action."
She added that London is "well on track" to meet and exceed air quality standards by 2011 through a series of initiatives including age limits for taxis, plans to convert the bus fleet to hybrid, investment in cycling and electric vehicle infrastructure, and the implementation of targeted plans at the few locations in central London at risk of not meeting air quality targets.
However, the prospect of legal action will further stoke criticism of Johnson's decision to abolish the western extension of the congestion charge zone and delay previous plans to impose fines on the most polluting vans entering the capital until 2012.
"Boris Johnson must introduce tougher measures to ensure that London meets EU air pollution limits, rather than relying so heavily on the government to act," said Friends of the Earth London campaigner Jenny Bates. "The mayor must abandon plans that would make traffic, air pollution and climate change worse – such as removing the western extension to the Congestion Charge, dropping traffic reduction targets, proposing more river crossings for vehicles and supporting a 50 per cent increase in flights from City airport."
EU environment commissioner Janez Potočnik warned that other states must also ensure they comply with air quality rules at all times or similarly risk facing legal action. "Air pollution is bad for our health," he said. "It reduces human life expectancy by more than eight months on average and by more than two years in the most polluted cities and regions. Member states must comply with EU air quality standards quickly and reduce air pollutant emissions."