European air quality: changing priorities

The second European Auto/Oil Programme (AO II) mentioned in the preceding articles has involved the European Commission, together with Member States, industry1 and the NGO community, over the past three years. A major goal of this programme has been to assess the impact of already mandated emission control measures on air quality in the European Union.

Where air quality targets are predicted not to be attained, the programme has also been designed to assess the efficacy of further transport fuel/local measures in making progress towards the target. As the technical phase of the programme draws to a close, what key policyrelated messages are emerging? What important conclusions can be drawn in determining priorities as the Commission launches its follow-up initiative of Cleaner Air For Europe (CAFE)? In this brief article we shall seek to answer these questions.