Report on the first Clean Air Outlook

Air pollution remains a major environmental and health problem in the EU. Many European cities suffer from poor air quality and exceed the EU standards set out in the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC, and still more exceed the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The European Environment Agency has estimated that around 400,000 people died prematurely in the EU in 2015 as a result of air pollution.

The EU review of air policy in 2011-2013 culminated in the Clean Air Policy Package of December 2013. This comprised a communication on a Clean Air Programme for Europe accompanied by three legislative proposals. The Clean Air Programme proposed that there should be a regular report on the air quality situation in Europe, covering the prospects for emission reduction and progress towards the EU's objectives. This first edition of the 'Clean Air Outlook' aims to fulfil that brief.