Ministry of Environment to be lawyer of the five cities under infringement procedure for pollution with NOx

The Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests (MMAP) will play the role of a lawyer for the five cities in Romania facing an infringement procedure for repeatedly exceeding the nitrogen dioxide (NOx) values, said the Minister of Environment, Costel Alexe.

"Bucharest is by far the worst case of the five. The Capital City was already condemned by the European Court of Justice for exceeding approved PM10 level. We have officially asked the City Hall to send us a short-term emergency plan as soon as possible, with adequate measures to escape the condemnation. We have no answer so far, although any delay of the City Hall could cost Romania a new PM10 infringement procedure, this time with sanctions. Since last week, Bucharest is under an infringement procedure for nitrogen dioxide exceedances, alongside other four Romanian cities: Brasov, Cluj, Iasi and Timisoara. The infringement procedure against Bucharest is the result of the fact that the City exceeded the annual levels of nitrogen dioxide for 8 consecutive years, from 2010 until 2018, including. The other three cities exceeded the approved levels for three consecutive years. We will play the role of lawyers for these cities in the coming months and we will draft an answer to the European Commission that will include the solutions to be provided by the five local authorities. It's very important that each of these local authorities understand the role they have in fighting air pollution that impacts the populations at least like a silent pandemic," the official told a debate held on Tuesday.

He added that the five cities cannot afford to lose not even one day, "especially as the 2022 deadline that is written on all the plans meant for the improvement of the air quality in the respective cities is believed to be too far away by the European Commission."

According to a press release of the Ministry of Environment sent to AGERPRES the letter by which the European Commission gave Romanian four more month to solve its deficiencies with respect to the air quality represents the pre-litigation phase in the relationship with the European Commission.