Air Quality Directive (AQD)

EU legislation on emissions from road vehicles have existed since 1970. At present, there are emission limit values for vehicles related to carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and particulates, set in Regulation 715/2007 and Annex XVII of Commission Regulation 692/2008; for heavy vehicles, also methane and ammonia emissions are limited by Regulation 715/2007 and Regulation 595/2009. The sulphur and the lead content of fuel - petrol, diesel, liquefied gas and others - became the subject of detailed EU provisions; in particular, the progressive introduction of lead-free petrol since the early 1980s considerably reduced the emissions of lead (see Directive 98/70/EC). The substitution of oil and gas by renewable sources of energy (biofuels) is also leading to the reduction of the emission of air pollutants.

Indirect influence on air emissions from traffic is mainly exercised by legislation from Member States. Examples are provisions on the design of vehicles, the taxation of vehicles or of fuels, speed limitation on roads or even the construction of motorways or other roads, tunnels or bridges, the possibility to transport persons or goods by rail or waterways, the availability of public transport or parking conditions, the cleaning of roads from dust, the location of industrial or other installations, finally the measures to influence consumers' or users' behavior.

No EU provisions on air emissions by airplanes exist; discussions in this regard are ongoing at international level. Also for ships, international agreements are necessary which take much time. The main EU efforts concerned the reduction of the sulphur content of fuels; some few measures were taken to reduce carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and particulates from inland navigation vessels. Practically the same pollutants were addressed in Directive 97/68/EC, amended by Directive 2004/26/EC, on air emissions from off-road machinery.