Clean Air Forum, Bratislava, 28/29 November 2019

Air quality has been a priority of the European Union over the last forty years. Clean air is essential to people’s health and the environment. While the quality of air has deteriorated since the industrial revolution, the situation has improved in the EU since 2000 as emissions of the main air pollutants have decreased by between 10% and 70%, depending on the pollutant. Despite these improvements, air quality is still a major issue in the European Union. It has some important adverse consequences that damage ecosystems, but also significant health consequences. More than 400 000 premature deaths in the European Union every year can be attributed to air pollution. Society also pays an exorbitant price for this polluted air – around €24 billion of direct costs per year in the EU for healthcare costs, lost work days, damage to crops and buildings, et cetera.
The European Union legal framework is solid and comprehensive, but simply having the legislation is not enough – the real challenge is in the implementation. The European Commission has infringement cases open at various stages against 20 Member States for shortcomings regarding air pollution – in some cases, for limit values that have been exceeded for over a decade.

Karmenu Vella, Commissioner for the Environment, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, said: "Air pollution kills over 400 000 people in Europe each year. This is more than ten times as many as road traffic accidents.  We already work with Member States to support them in implementing EU rules and improving the health of EU citizens. The Clean Air Forum is a very important part of that, bringing together policy-makers, stakeholders and civil society."

More than 30 speakers from government, industry and non-governmental organisations will share their views on improving air quality and reflect on the development and implementation of effective European, national and local air policies, projects and programmes.

Speakers include:  Zuzana Čaputová, President of the Slovak Republic, Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries; Hans Bruyninckx, Executive Director, European Environment Agency; Paula Radcliffe, former marathon world champion; Matúš Vallo, Mayor of Bratislava; Olga Algayerova, Executive Secretary of UNECE.

Full list of speakers: https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/eu-clean-air-forum-2019-nov-28_en