European Commission must keep clean air on EU legislative agenda

Respiratory Decade is supporting Clean Air Package! 

In response to the increasing signs that the Junker Commission is going to withdraw the Clean Air Package from its 2015 Work Programme, the European Respiratory Society and European Lung Foundation (ELF), who are advocating for cleaner air as part of the Healthy Lungs for Life campaign, noted that:

"If the Junker Commission is looking for big problems to solve that will have a big impact on the health and well-being of the European population, air pollution is one of the most important as it affects 100% of us. By dropping the Clean Air Package and the National Emission Ceilings directive, Mr Timmermans is missing a prime opportunity – the NEC Directive would reduce exposure to pollutants in the air which currently cause 400,000 premature deaths in Europe each year. It would also testify to EU's leadership on green growth and environmental protection on the international stage, would act as a catalyst for energy policy targets and would encourage industry to innovate on their climate change action. Instead, the health concerns of Europeans have been dropped and our health will suffer".