Letter from EU Healthy Air Coalition to MEPs: Support the trilogue deal for cleaner air and better health

Dear Member of the European Parliament,

On Wednesday 24 April the Plenary will be voting on “Ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe”, procedure file 2022/ 0347 (COD). This follows a provisional agreement reached on 20 February by Parliament and Council in trilogue on updating EU’s clean air standards (revised Ambient Air Quality Directive).  Faced with a public health emergency from air pollution, this deal brings the EU one step closer to finally tackling it.

We, the undersigned members of the EU Healthy Air Coalition, representing medical doctors, healthcare professionals, patient organisations and health insurers call on you to support this deal in the Plenary. The EU Healthy Air Coalition brings together CPME, ECL, EFA, ELF, EPHA, ERS, HEAL and MLOZ to advocate for strong EU clean air policies to ensure better health for all.

Ahead of the EU elections, we urge you to support the trilogue deal, as a sign of your commitment to cleaning up the air that hundreds of millions of people across Europe breathe.

This trilogue deal is a much-awaited major step forward towards clean air in Europe: in particular, it includes updates on maximum levels for the major air pollutants, strengthened monitoring requirements, better information to people including vulnerable groups.

Air pollution weighs heavily on the health of people in the EU and the economy: 97% of the urban population breathes air which is considered unhealthy, resulting in hundreds of thousands of premature deaths and hundreds of billions of euros in health costs each year. Air pollution affects everyone and those most vulnerable disproportionally, such as those already ill, children, elderly, pregnant women, and those facing health inequalities.

We call on you to adopt the provisional agreement reached in trilogue to swiftly lessen people’s suffering, prevent disease and achieve economic savings.