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Doctors newspaper online, 26.06.2019
ECJ ruling
Again and again there is a dispute over air pollutants, limit values and measuring stations. The top EU judges have now passed an important verdict.
The measuring station on Gladbecker Straße in Essen. According to the ECJ, citizens have the right to have a legal check to see if the measuring stations are correctly placed.
© Jochen Tack / imageBROKER / piture alliance
LUXEMBOURG. According to a ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), strict regulations apply to the measurement of air pollutants in Europe.
Exceeding limit values at individual measuring points is considered a violation of EU rules, the judges said on Wednesday in Luxembourg.
Citizens can also check in court if the stations are placed correctly. The judgment should also have far-reaching consequences for Germany.
In this particular case, inhabitants of the Belgian capital, Brussels, and an environmental organization had sued Belgian authorities for drawing up a sufficient air quality plan and setting up the necessary measuring stations.
The Belgian court asked the ECJ to interpret EU law. The placement of measuring points and the scope for compliance with limit values are often the subject of controversy in the debate on diesel driving bans in Germany as well.
57 cities violated nitrogen dioxide limit
In Germany pollutant levels are exceeded in many places. According to the Federal Environment Agency, in 2018 57 cities violated the EU limit value for nitrogen dioxide (see following table) .
In the past, CSU politicians repeatedly expressed doubts about the placement of the apparatus and the significance of the measured values. Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer criticized, for example, that devices would be set up directly at intersections or bus stations.
The Luxembourg judges now further stated that excessive levels of particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide or other pollutants mentioned in the EU Directive on Air Quality and Clean Air for Europe at individual measuring stations were considered a violation.
Because there were health threats. Average values for a larger area or an agglomeration therefore have little significance.
The EU rules also stipulate that monitoring stations should be set up to provide information about the most polluted places, the judges said.
The locations must be selected in such a way that the danger of unnoticed exceedances of limit values is minimized. The interpretation of the current rules by the ECJ now applies to all EU states. (AP)
European Court of Justice
Case C-723/17
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