Regional ozone in Europe

Over the past three years, both the European Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) have developed response strategies to combat concerns over acidification, eutrophication and regional ozone.

In each case ‘Integrated Assessment Models’ (IAM) were used to support policy development. In the case of the European Commission, this resulted in the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive, which is currently under consideration by the European Institutions. In the case of the UN-ECE, this resulted in the multi-pollutant, multi-effects protocol, known as the Gothenburg Protocol, signed in December 1999.