Bulgaria

Forests cover more than a third of Bulgaria’s territory. However, they face numerous challenges, such as poor management, illegal logging and the effects of climate change.

On 25 July, the European Commission sent Bulgaria and Spain to court for repeatedly breaching EU air quality standards and failing to guarantee citizens’ right to clean air.

Threat to annul new emission limits for coal-fired power plants that could save more than 20,000 lives every year.

The recent decision from the EU Court of Justice opens the door for the Commission to take more robust action in relation to air quality infringements and will facilitate legal actions before national courts by individuals and NGOs.

Bulgaria breached EU limits for particulate matter (PM10) across all its urban areas between at least 2007 and 2013 and its plans to achieve compliance were “flawed”..

In Austria, PM₁₀ levels are too high in the zone of Graz, and in Germany in the zones of Stuttgart and Leipzig. In Slovakia, six zones exceed the daily limit value for PM₁₀ ..