Lack of harmony hinders noise pollution legislation

Date: 01/10/1998

By Simon Coss

MOVES to introduce new EU rules to curb noise pollution in Europe's cities are being hampered by big differences in the way member states measure the problem.

Experts in the European Commission's Directorate-General for the environment (DGXI) are currently working on plans for Union-wide legislation on environmental noise which they hope to complete in the first half of next year.

But they say their task is being obstructed by the lack of any commonly agreed methods for calculating what constitutes noise pollution. "All member states have different indicators and different computation measures so it is very hard to get an overview which would form the basis for a European policy," explained one DGXI expert.

The Commission first decided to look into drawing up a general law on noise pollution in November 1996, when it published a consultative Green Paper on the issue.

The only EU anti-noise laws currently on the statute books are aimed at specific sources such as cars, motorcycles, aircraft, heavy machinery, household appliances and even lawnmowers.

The reaction to the Green Paper - which was circulated to local authorities, EU governments, the European Parliament and many non-governmental environmental groups - revealed widespread support for the Commission's argument that more general rules were needed.

Only the UK said it was not in favour of a harmonised approach to noise policy, and its stance apparently had more to do with differences between the country's legal system and that of other member states than any real objection to anti-noise measures.

Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard underlined once again why she felt such legislation was necessary at a recent conference on the problem of urban noise in Copenhagen.

"While the hustle and bustle of the city - the hum of human activity - is part of what makes cities what they are, we cannot get away from the fact that we also have a problem," she said.

The most recent data available suggests that some 80 million Europeans are regularly exposed to outdoor noise levels which are unacceptably high. A further 170 million have to put up with annoying daytime noise.

Officials say the prime culprits responsible for creating cities full of irritated EU citizens are trucks, cars and aircraft. "Transport is the first and most important problem when it comes to noise levels," explained the DGXI expert, who added that any effective solution would therefore have to involve a combination of transport and environmental measures.

Such initiatives could include designing quieter cars, building roads with low-noise surfaces or banning vehicles from city centres.

The Commission says its proposal will not set specific noise limits for EU governments to abide by. Those decisions will remain in the hands of national authorities. It will, however, try to suggest some common criteria for calculating noise nuisance, if it can persuade member states to agree on such an approach.