EU: UK Courts Should Enforce UK NO2 Limits

Many areas of Britain breached NO2 limits since 2010; case to return to Britain's Supreme Court next year.

The European Union's highest court ruled on Wednesday that Britain's courts have the authority to order the British government to comply with EU nitrogen dioxide limits as soon as possible, speeding up action to tackle the air pollutant.

The case will now return to the British Supreme Court for a final ruling next year and it is likely to order the government to take action to meet limits in a much shorter timeframe than after 2030.

"Things should start moving now," said Alan Andrews at environmental law firm ClientEarth, which brought the case against the government. "This sets a groundbreaking legal precedent in EU law and paves the way for a series of legal challenges across Europe."

The European Court of Justice said it was up to national courts to take "any necessary measure" so that governments take action to comply with any extensions to an EU directive on air quality in as short a time as possible.

The directive puts a limit on certain air pollutants.

On nitrogen dioxide (NO2), member states were supposed to comply with the limits in 2010, but could extend that to 2015 if they delivered plans to deal with high levels of the gas, which is produced mainly by diesel engines and causes respiratory illnesses.

However, UK government figures show that only five out of the country's 43 pollution zones will comply by 2015, and three - Greater London, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire - will not comply until after 2030.

"Proposals like an ultra-low emissions zone in London will have to be done now in light of this judgment," Andrews said.

The London Mayor plans to create a zone in central London by 2020 where almost all vehicles running during working hours are either zero- or low-emission.

Britain's Department for Food and Rural Affairs said it was preparing a statement.
 

By Nina Chestney