BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Against the background of a possible EU-wide tightening of the limit values for clean air, the Federal Environment Ministry is calling for a balanced solution. The setting of limit values, for example for fine dust pollution, is always subject to consideration, a spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday in Berlin. Regarding the specific decision of the EU Commission announced this Wednesday, the annual limit value for particulate matter At first he did not say that he wanted to reduce it by more than half by 2030 because an examination was still pending.
In principle, however, it is important to find “a good middle ground”, which is then reflected in limit values, emphasized the spokesman: “On the one hand we have health protection, protection of the environment, protection of air quality. We have to go On the other hand, however, we must also recognize that no one can want us to stop moving, that we no longer have mobility.”
The EU Commission had previously announced that it wanted to reduce exposure to fine dust with a particle size of up to 2.5 micrometers from 25 to 10 micrograms per cubic meter. With these proposals, the requirements at EU level are approaching the recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO), but do not fully implement them. Since last year, the WHO has only recommended five micrograms, i.e. one fifth of the currently permitted value.
The spokesman for the Ministry of the Environment emphasized that the WHO recommendations are “guideline values and not limit values”. Overall, the air quality has improved significantly in recent years, although not sufficiently, he explained.
The spokesman referred to the fears expressed by politicians in the Union, among others, that tightening of limit values would result in driving bans in Germany. The federal government itself cannot decide on driving bans. In addition, the new guidelines from the Commission, which the EU Parliament and the Council still have to approve, would not take effect until the 1930s at the earliest, he explained./faa/DP/ngu