Hungary asks EU for more time to improve air quality
Hungary, along with eight other EU member states, has asked for a derogation on implementing tighter EU air quality rules, including new pollution limits for fine particles (PM10), an Environment Ministry official told MTI on Friday.
Zsuzsanna Bibok said the EU's new rules allow a derogation on implementing the limits until June 2011 for member states that can prove they are making progress on reducing the pollutant dust in the air.
According to EU rules introduced in January 2005, daily average measurements of PM should not exceed 50 microgrammes per cubic meters on more than 35 days a year. In Hungary, the measurements currently exceed the limit on about 120-150 days annually.
However, the EU refrained from starting violation procedures against Hungary, because it accepted that efforts are being made for cleaner air, Bibok said, adding that the main problems in Hungary are not industrial emmissions, but road transport and household heating emmissions.
The EU has yet to decide whether to approve the derogation, Bibok said.
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