NEC Directive reporting status 2019

Table 1: EU Member State progress in meeting 2010 NEC Directive emission ceilings and 2020/2030 reduction commitments

 Notes:
‘’ indicates that the emission ceiling or reduction commitment has been, or is anticipated to be, attained. The NEC Directive does not include a 2010 ceiling for PM_2.5.
‘’ indicates that the ceiling or reduction commitment has not been, or is not anticipated to be, attained.
The comparison with current emission ceilings is based mainly on adjustment applications approved by the EC in 2018; new adjustment applications submitted in 2019 are not taken into account in this table. All adjustment applications will be reviewed by the EC. If approved, the number of Member States exceeding one or more emission ceilings in 2017 could change. The ‘with measures’ (WM) projection is calculated by Member States on the basis of adopted policies and measures currently in place. The WM projections are used to assess attainment of 2020 and 2030 reduction commitments for each Member State; NO_x and NMVOC emissions from the two main agricultural activities (manure management (3B) and agricultural soils (3D)) are not accounted for, as required by the new NEC Directive.
Besides the WM projections, sixteen Member States also reported WaM scenarios that reflect adopted and planned measures. These are Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Spain.

Source: Metadata and other formats

Nitrogen oxides (NO_x)

Since 2016, all Member States have been in compliance with their NO_x emission ceilings. In absolute amounts, the largest emitters of NO_x in 2017 were Germany, followed by the United Kingdom and France. Between 2016 and 2017, 21 Member States reported emission reductions for NO_x. The total reduction in aggregated EU emissions amounted to 2.2 % between 2016 and 2017, with an overall reduction of 38 % since 2005.

Non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs)

In 2017, one Member States (the Netherlands) exceeded its ceilings by 37 %. The largest emitter of NMVOCs in 2017 was Germany, followed by Italy and the United Kingdom. Between 2016 and 2017, 13 Member States reported emission reductions for NMVOCs. In contrast, aggregated EU emissions increased from 2016 to 2017 for the first time (by 0.5 %).

Sulphur dioxide (SO₂)

All Member States were in compliance with their emission ceilings for SO₂ in 2017. The largest emitter of SO₂ was Poland, followed by Germany and Spain. Between 2016 and 2017, 17 Member States reported emission reductions for SO₂. From 2016 to 2017, the total reduction in aggregated EU emissions amounted to 1.2 %, with an overall reduction of 69 % since 2005.

Ammonia (NH₃)

Six Member States (Austria, Croatia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain) exceeded their NH₃ ceilings in 2017. The highest exceedances, in percentage terms, were reported for Spain (47 %) and Croatia (25 %). The smallest exceedances were reported for Ireland (around 2 %). The largest emitter of NH₃ was Germany, followed by France and Spain. Between 2016 and 2017, 12 EU Member States reported emission reductions for NH₃. EU emissions of NH₃ increased by about 0.4 % between 2016 and 2017. This represents the fourth consecutive year of increasing NH₃ emissions in the EU_.

Fine Particulate Matter (PM_2.5)

The NEC Directive does not include a 2010 ceiling for primary PM_2.5. In 2017, the largest emitters of PM_2.5 were Italy, France and Poland. Although EU emissions of PM_2.5 have decreased by 28 % since 2000, the recent trend is less positive. From 2015 to 2016, emissions decreased by just 1 %, whereas between 2016 and 2017, EU emissions of PM_2.5 increased by 0.4 %. This was in a context where 15 Member States reported emission reductions for PM_2.5 over the period.

EU progress in meeting emission ceilings and comparison with future emission reduction commitments

The EU must continue to meet aggregated 2010 emission ceilings for the four main pollutants (NO_x, NMVOCs, SO₂ and NH₃) until the end of 2019. In every year since 2010, total EU emissions of these pollutants were below their respective ceilings (Figure 1).

In 2017, EU emissions of NMVOCs and SO₂ were already below the 2020 reduction commitments set for these pollutants. For both PM_2.5 and NH₃, a reduction of 1.3 % and 2.3 % compared with the 2017 level is required in order to meet the 2020 EU commitment, whereas, for NO_x, EU emissions need to be reduced by a further 3.2 % compared with 2017 levels.

In contrast, additional efforts are needed for all pollutants if the EU is to achieve its 2030 emission reduction commitments. The required percentage reductions from 2017 emissions are:

• 13 % for NMVOCs;
• 16 % for NH₃;
• 33 %  for SO₂;
• 36 %; for PM_2.5;
• almost 40 % for NO_x.

Figure 1: EU progress towards meeting 2010 emission ceilings set out in the NEC Directive and the 2020/2030 reduction commitments

Notes:
Greece did not submit an inventory in 2019. The EU inventory is therefore without emission data from Greece and thus, totals are underestimated.
Croatia joined the EU in mid-2013, so for the years 2010-2013, emissions and ceilings are not considered for this country.
The distance to ceilings was calculated taking into account information from adjustment applications approved by the EC in 2018 and reintroduced by Member States in 2019. The new adjustment applications from the Netherlands are not considered. The attainment of the ceiling might change after the adjustment review process.  The NEC Directive does not include 2010 ceilings for PM_2.5.
The EU’s 2020 and 2030 reduction commitments are calculated relative to 2005 base-year emissions.
When assessing future attainment of 2020 and 2030 reduction commitments, NO_x and NMVOC emissions from agricultural activitiesare not considered. The magnitude of these emission sources is indicated by the green bars on top of the NO_x and NMVOC columns. Thus, only the lower part of the NO_x and NMVOC columns should be considered for comparison with the 2020 and 2030 reduction commitments.

Additional efforts are needed to close the gap between 2020 and 2030

According to the NEC Directive, the reporting and assessment of reliable emission projections are essential to support the development of effective National Air Pollution Control Programmes (NAPCP). These should have been reported to the EC by 1 April 2019. By the time of publication, 17 of the Member States (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden and United Kingdom) had reported their NAPCP, or a draft version, via the online reporting mechanism on the Eionet website. Other drafts have been received informally by the European Commission..  

In these programmes, Member States describe how current policies are expected to contribute to achieving both their 2020 and 2030 reduction commitments. Where current policies do not provide sufficient reductions to ensure compliance with the respective commitments, Member States are obliged to report additional measures that are either planned or foreseen for adoption, together with the associated emission projections that would deliver future compliance. A qualitative overview on the measures reported by Member States is available in an online data viewer.

For 2020, sixteen Member States are not on track to comply with at least one of their reduction commitments. The main challenge represent NH₃ emissions, for which thirteen EU Member States (Austria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Sweden and the United Kingdom) reported projected emissions above their agreed reduction commitments. Eight of them reported a WaM projection that would enable them to comply with their commitments.

Almost one third of all EU Member States reported projections above their respective NMVOCs reduction commitmentsfor 2020. Of these, half reported WaM projections_.

Six Member States  do not expect to meet their respective NO_x (Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Poland, Romania and Slovenia) and PM_2.5 (Bulgaria, Denmark, Hungary, Romania, Spain and the United Kingdom) emission reduction committments in 2020. Of these countries, only Greece, Poland and Slovenia did not provide a WaM projection.

Looking ahead to 2030, further efforts are clearly required by Member States in order for them to meet their 2030 emission reduction commitments. As shown in Table 1, more than half of the Member States are not on track to comply with their agreed reduction commitments for NH₃, NMVOCs, NO_x and PM_2.5, whereas eleven are not expected to meet their SO₂ reduction commitments.

Sixteen Member States (Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia and Spain) reported WaM projections for 2030.

In some cases, Member States did not report WaM projections, even though projections based on current measures indicate that compliance will not be attained. This is the case for:  

• Sweden for NH₃ and NO_x;
• Malta for NMVOCs and NH₃;
• Poland for SO₂, NH₃ and PM_2.5;
• Portugal and Slovenia for NMVOCs, SO₂ and PM_2.5;
• Austria and Italy for NO_x, NH₃ and PM_2.5;  
• Hungary and the United Kingdom for all pollutants.