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THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS

- supports the European Commission's proposed limit values to be achieved by 2030; calls for full and binding alignment with the 2021 WHO guidelines by 2035, so as to protect citizens' health and to contribute to achieving the zero pollution objective set to be achieved by 2050; supports the introduction of a regular review mechanism of the air quality standards in line with the latest scientific evidence. Achieving these targets will be possible only if the EU and Member States agree and implement ambitious policies to tackle the sources of pollution at all levels;

- stresses the importance of implementation and enforcement, highlighting the significant number of infringements of air quality, recalling that communities should be adequately supported to fully implement the directive on the ground; calls for full application of the polluter pays principle;

- highlights the general lack of specifically targeted EU funding for air quality and calls for the EU to support air quality transition by:

 providing new better targeted or dedicated EU funding opportunities while simplifying and increasing access to existing funding opportunities, in particular under ERDF, LIFE and EAFRD;

 extending or adapting funding opportunities for climate transition, such as the Just Transition Fund or the Social Climate Fund, to use for air quality transition;

 providing technical assistance and multilingual tailored guidance on funding specifically addressed to local and regional authorities;

 shifting traffic – particularly heavy goods traffic – from the road to the railway;

- calls Member States to ensure that local and regional authorities representing areas likely to be significantly affected by air pollution exceedances are allowed to take part in consultations when preparing air quality plans;

- stresses that there are particular zones where conformity with the limit values for certain pollutants cannot be achieved by the deadlines specified, because of site-specific dispersion characteristics, orographic boundary conditions, adverse climatic conditions, transboundary contributions or because of disproportionate cost of implementation which exceeds the cost of inaction; welcomes therefore Art. 18 of the European Commission's proposal providing for additional time to comply with air quality standards in those areas; calls for support to help such zones achieve air quality objectives.