France told to act on PM10 and marine fuels

The maximum daily limits for PM10 are being exceeded in ten zones in France: Paris, Lyon, Grenoble, Marseille, Martinique, Rhône-Alpes–ZUR (Vallée de l’Arve), PACA–ZUR (Zone Urbaine Régionale), Nice, Toulon, Douai-Béthune-Valenciennes. This means that the country has failed to take measures that should have been in place since 2005 to protect citizens’ health, and the Commission is now requesting France to take speedy and effective action to keep the period of non-compliance as short as possible.

In another reasoned opinion, the Commission is asking France to send details about how EU legislation on the sulphur content of marine fuels is being enacted in their domestic law, an obligation that should have been fulfilled by 18 June 2014.

If France fails to act within two months, the Commission may take either of these issues to the EU Court of Justice.

Source: European Commission press release, 29 April 2015.

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