Air pollution: Greece on trial

It happens more often than desired that pollution limits are persistently exceeded - and that a certain political inaction towards the necessary climate protection measures was at least partly responsible for this. In Europe, for example, the French government has already been condemned twice in the last two years for inadequate response to alarming air pollution levels. Germany has also been reprimanded by the EU Court of Justice for exceeding nitrogen dioxide limits for years. Now it seems to be Greece that has attracted the attention of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). 

According to the ECJ ruling of last Thursday (16.02.2023), Greece has violated EU law. Specifically, it is about the persistently high level of air quality values. A persistent air pollution, because of which the EU Commission had sued the country. Especially in the capital, the emission situation is alarming. Here, in the Athens conurbation, the nitrogen dioxide annual limit value has been systematically exceeded since 2010 up to and including 2020. Yet, the Court went on, Greece had hardly reacted to this. "No appropriate measures" were proactively introduced by the Greek state to keep air pollution as low as possible. While it is always desirable to reduce pollutant emissions further and further, it is currently essential to at least be able to ensure compliance with the limit values. 

However, it is not yet clear how the government will deal with this in order to bring the air pollution situation back under control. In this respect, the measures introduced so far are considered to be far from adequate. Only two environmental zones are active in the whole of Greece - both in Athens. And even there, the regulations in force do not seem to be able to have the desired climate protection effect. Their impact on air quality is relatively small, which is not least due to their basic concept. Firstly, they only affect vehicles from Greece, so cars registered abroad are allowed to continue polluting the air. Furthermore, the "Athens small ring" low emission zone is seasonal and therefore only applies between October and July - according to the principle of changing number plates during these months. So even the oldest and most polluting internal combustion vehicles can drive the streets of Athens on the right day. The second zone "Athens big ring", on the other hand, is only active due to weather conditions. Even when it is active, however, vehicles registered in 2000 - i.e. Euro2 - are still allowed to enter. It is therefore not surprising that the air is not getting any better. 

Certainly, Greece must intervene across the board in order to reduce emissions in different areas - starting with transport, but also in many other sectors where pollutant emissions are particularly high. It is clear that long-term exposure to polluted air has a profound effect on human health - as well as the negative consequences of air pollution for the entire ecosystem and the environment in general. It is not enough, for example, to set limit values without using appropriate instruments to ensure that they can be complied with - in the long term and with the potential for continuous improvement in terms of climate protection. Although legal action is not necessarily the most efficient way to get countries to pay attention to pollutant levels from the point of view of the state's use of resources, it is not surprising that the European Court of Justice is suing more and more countries for inadequate measures to comply with limit values. 

It is time to act, and the ECJ is ultimately asking them to do just that. It remains to be seen how and whether Greece will decide to make changes and additions to its environmental and transport policies.