Research Findings in support of the EU Air Quality Review

This report provides a summary of the policy relevant messages from the research and monitoring communities as an input to the EU Air policy implementation and review process. The approach in distilling the messages has been to provide a minimum of background science as context, explain the message simply and identify what remains unclear or not understood to show the levels of confidence of further policy actions. Lastly we identify further research needs to address these uncertainties. The aim of the EU Air policy implementation and review process is to provide: "a robust EU Clean Air package, updating existing policies and directives including the National Emission Ceilings Directive according to latest science, and outlining further cost-effective measures to move much closer to the related 6EAP's objective: to achieve levels of air quality that do not result in unacceptable impacts on, and risks to, human health and the environment." This process therefore requires an understanding of the messages from research and monitoring activities throughout Europe and developments in the wider global science community. This review, focuses on research and assessment activities within Europe and has the following two objectives: To identify key scientific messages relevant for the revision and implementation of EU Air Quality legislation To identify limitations to knowledge and emerging issues. The review has been coordinated by the European Commission Directorate General for Research & Innovation with contributions from the JRC, DG ENV, DG SANCO, the European Environmental Agency (EEA), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). The hearth of the report has been produced by several European research projects (listed in the previous section). The wider global literature has been used to provide a wider perspective and context for the review.