THE CLEAN AIR HANDBOOK

The handbook explains the legal framework of the EU Air Quality Directive, emphasizing the enforceability of 'limit values' for pollutants like NO2 and PM10. It details how citizens and NGOs can use the Aarhus Convention's pillars—access to information, public participation, and access to justice—to challenge inadequate air quality plans and government inaction in national courts. The document also outlines the European Commission's infringement procedures and the 'Fresh Approach' to tackling systemic breaches of air quality standards across Member States.

• EU citizens have a legal right to clean air because 'limit values' for harmful air pollution are legally binding; when these are breached, individuals and groups can demand action through national courts.
• The Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) requires Member States to monitor air quality, report results to the public and the Commission, and implement air quality plans to achieve limit values for pollutants including Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5), Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Lead, Benzene, and Carbon Monoxide.
• The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has established that air quality plans must ensure the exceedance period is kept 'as short as possible,' which is a more demanding standard than a 'gradual return' to compliance.
• Member States cannot justify breaches of limit values by citing technical, financial, or administrative difficulties, as the duty to comply is absolute.
• The Aarhus Convention provides a 'toolkit' of three procedural rights: access to environmental information, the right to participate in the formulation of environmental plans, and access to justice to challenge breaches of environmental law.
• Common obstacles to enforcing the right to clean air in EU Member States include restrictive 'standing' rules for NGOs, prohibitively high legal costs, and national courts that only review the procedure of a plan rather than its substantive adequacy.
• The European Commission's 'Fresh Approach' launched in January 2013 targets 17 Member States for PM10 breaches and 6 for NO2 breaches, focusing on both the failure to meet limit values and the failure to adopt plans that achieve compliance in the shortest time possible.
• The Commission's infringement process is often slow, typically taking four years to reach a first ECJ judgment, and the Commission is heavily reliant on data provided by Member States due to limited inspection powers.

APA

Andrews, A. (2015). THE CLEAN AIR HANDBOOK. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/aeph4gln/2015-11-30-clean-air-handbook-version-two-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

Andrews, Alan. THE CLEAN AIR HANDBOOK. ClientEarth, 2015. https://www.clientearth.org/media/aeph4gln/2015-11-30-clean-air-handbook-version-two-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Andrews |first1=Alan |title=THE CLEAN AIR HANDBOOK |publisher=ClientEarth |date=November 2015 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/aeph4gln/2015-11-30-clean-air-handbook-version-two-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{andrews2015clean, author = {Andrews, Alan}, title = {{THE CLEAN AIR HANDBOOK}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2015}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/aeph4gln/2015-11-30-clean-air-handbook-version-two-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }