EU takes Spain to court over pollution

THE European Commission has taken Spain, along with Bulgaria, to the Court of Justice over their lack of steps to limit the amount of air pollution in the country.

Spain has reportedly failed to maintain a level of air pollution in the country to below the standards set in a mutual agreement between the country and the EU in 2010.

Fellow member states France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania and the United Kingdom were taken to court in 2018 for the same reason however Spain avoided the ruling as they promised reasonable action within a specific time frame.

However these promises were not met and therefore the court appearance is now the last resort route available.A deciding factor on the decision for legal action is the u-turn in policies for Spain’s capital Madrid.

The centre-right mayor of Madrid Jose Luis Martínez-Almeida overturned the zero emissions scheme in the city put in place by the previous mayor.

In a statement,Commissioner Karmenu Vella said of Spain’s worrying increase in air pollution:”One year later the evidence of harm from air pollution still continues to grow,”there is no more room for excuses. We need to see decisive action.”