regional priority goals
Thematic environmental legislation continues to be of immediate relevance to the European environment and health process. The revision of different policies and new proposals aims to further contribute to improved protection of human health from environmental risk factors. The most relevant areas of policy include: air quality; chemicals; noise; and freshwater, the marine environment and soil.
Current EU air pollution policy is supported by the 2005 Thematic Strategy on Air Pollution (EC, 2005), which was designed to ensure progress towards attaining “levels of air quality that do not give rise to significant negative impacts on, and risks to human health and the environment”. An extensive review of the EU air pollution policy concluded in 2013 with a proposal for a new clean air policy package (EC, 2014b), which aims to further improve Europe’s air quality by 2030 and beyond – mainly through full compliance, by 2020, with present air quality policies and coherence with international commitments under the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The package also addresses air quality issues in cities
and contains a proposal for a directive to reduce pollution from medium-sized combustion plants. The inclusion of the short-lived climate forcing pollutants (a methane emissions ceiling and promotion of mitigation measures for black carbon) reflects attempts to connect the air pollution and climate change policy areas. If fully implemented, by 2030 the package could provide overall health benefits of €40–140 billion and be linked to avoiding 58 000 premature deaths (compared with the business-as-usual scenario) (EC, 2014b).
Policy frameworks for tackling indoor air quality are largely lacking, except for relevant issues addressed by specific pieces of legislation (EEA & JRC, 2013). A need to establish a horizontal framework that links health, safety, energy-efficiency and sustainability considerations has been postulated – for example, by EnVIE (de Oliveira Fernandes et al., 2009) and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union (2010).
In the 7th EAP, indoor air pollution is to be addressed by implementing an updated EU air quality policy that takes into account “the differences between
© eROMAZe/iStock 14144178
the sources of indoor and outdoor air pollution”, in the context of the efforts to develop an EU strategy for a non-toxic environment (EU, 2013).
EU chemical legislation spans horizontal policy – which aims to ensure a high level of protection of human health and the environment. This legislation includes: the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals (REACH) (EU, 2006a); the regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (EC, 2008a); and legislation on specific groups of chemicals, such as biocides, pesticides, pharmaceuticals or cosmetics (see also EEA & JRC, 2013).
Further work, however, is needed on such issues as simultaneous exposure to multiple chemicals (Kortenkamp, Backhaus & Faust, 2009; EC, 2012) and on approaches to chemical risk assessment or chemicals of emerging concern, such as endocrine disruptors – which can interfere with the hormone system, causing adverse effects on health.
The EU adopted a strategy to address mercury pollution, both in the EU and globally, through measures to reduce emissions, cut supply and demand, and protect against exposure, especially to methylmercury in fish (EU, 2005). In 2010, a revision of the mercury strategy was initiated (EC, 2010c). Recently, the EC began undertaking an assessment of changes to existing EU policy and legislation that may be necessary to achieve full compliance with the Minamata Convention on Mercury, adopted in 2013 (UNEP, 2013).
The main legislative instrument to control industrial emissions is Directive 2008/1/
EC on integrated pollution prevention and control (EC, 2008b). It was revised and replaced by Directive 2010/75/EU on industrial emissions (EC, 2010d), which is a key instrument for reducing emissions of environmental pollutants.
EU legal efforts to prevent and limit undesirable substances from contaminating foodstuffs are of
relevance to Parma commitments.
For example, the EU regulates the use of certain chemical substances, such as those used in farming or in certain production or food processing techniques (EC, 2006a). Also, to reduce the risks of contamination, genetically modified organisms and food packaging are monitored in the EU.
Directive 2002/49/EC on environmental noise (EU, 2002) is the main policy instrument for developing and monitoring actions in this area, both at the Member State and EU level.
The EU Member States are obliged to implement noise action plans in cities and close to major transport sources and to implement indicators for noise mapping. A review of the implementation in 2014/2015 may lead to a proposal to review the Directive and strengthen its implementation.
The EU drinking-water policy has been in place for more than 30 years (EU, 1998).
Its reporting obligations cover all drinking-water supplies serving more than 5000 people or supplying more than 1000 m³ a day. To address quality issues in small water supplies, the EC developed a guidance document that aims to protect drinking-water holistically, from the source to the tap of the consumer (Hulsmann &
Smeets, 2011).
Directive 2000/60/EC establishes a framework for the management, protection and improvement of the quality of water resources (EC, 2000). Directive 2008/105/EC on environmental quality standards (EU, 2008) contains a list of priority or priority hazardous substances for which standards in surface waters are set. The EC reviewed the list and in 2012 put forward a proposal for a directive that amends these two older directives, with regard to priority substances.
Directive 2006/7/EC on bathing water quality (EU, 2006b) will be fully in force by end of 2014. In addition to its provisions on monitoring and surveillance methods to control the quality of inland and coastal bathing waters, the Directive provides for improved public information about
bathing water quality and requires the creation of bathing water profiles, which describe bathing waters and potential impacts and threats to their water quality.
The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (EC, 2008c) aims to protect the marine environment across Europe – including the good environmental status of marine waters – and the marine resource base. An understanding of the complex linkages between the seas and oceans and human health and well-being needs to be improved beyond the well-recognized health threats related to the
consumption of seafood contaminated with bioaccumulated mercury and some persistent pollutants (EMB, 2013).
Soil degradation in Europe is relevant to human health, natural ecosystems and climate change. A proposal for a soil framework directive (EC, 2006b), put forward with the objective to protect soils across the EU, is still in the process of a co-decision procedure. Currently, nine EU Member States have specific legislation on soil protection, especially on contamination.
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Since the 1980s, the European environment and health process has been, by design, an intersectoral and multi-stakeholder collaboration, aiming to identify environment and health priority challenges, clarifying objectives, setting commitments, and shaping policies and actions. This process involves national governments, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs that represent the scientific community, civil society, business, and the youth sector.
The 2010 Parma Declaration on Environment and Health highlights the involvement of various international agencies – together with other organizations (such as specialized UN agencies) and stakeholders (NGOs, business and the scientific community) – in implementing the action programme adopted. More specifically, the Parma Declaration encourages “all relevant international organizations to further develop common tools and guidelines to address the economic impacts of environmental risk factors to health”
(WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2010).
Besides the common tools and guidelines developed on the basis of the Parma Declaration, international organizations can also effectively participate in the implementation of certain measures by providing the necessary resources and sharing their experiences.
In essence, close cooperation with the relevant international agencies is considered vital to achieve the best possible results. The international agencies involved in the process include those organizations that promote cooperation among governments, NGOs, businesses and other environmental stakeholders.
They support the free exchange of information and public participation – for example, in environmental decision-making. An example of an organization involved in environmental decision-making is the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe (see Box 4).
Other international agencies – so far not directly involved in the environment and health process – are engaged in activities that are highly relevant, and closer collaboration with them and/or formal participation might be beneficial.
These include, notably, financial agencies that participate in the evaluation of the economic aspects of environmental risks and in financing projects – for example, on industrially contaminated sites (Martuzzi, Pasetto & Martin-Olmedo, 2014), water and sanitation (UNECE & WHO Regional Office for Europe, 2012), air pollution, and climate change.
The World Bank and other international financial institutions support cooperation between governments, civil society and the private sector, to implement the Millennium Development Goals and the national and regional global priorities of the Rio+20 process – especially in relation to poverty reduction. Among other things, these international institutions contribute to the reduction of health inequalities and to the design and implementation of health institution reforms.
International financial institutions support the development of environmentally friendly health systems, to reduce environmental exposures and mitigate long-term effects, such as the health-related impact of climate change. Per se, a worthwhile objective is the establishment