2026-10-02

The New EU Air Quality Directive Begins to Have a Practical Impact

The European Union has adopted an action plan for zero pollution. The vision is that by 2050, air pollution will have been reduced to levels that are not harmful to health or the environment. A key element of the plan is the introduction of a new air quality directive.

The directive, designated 2024/2881, was adopted at the end of 2024 and must be transposed into the laws of the member states by the end of 2026. It sets out new, lower limit values for air pollution (air quality standards) which must not be exceeded after 1 January 2030.

To achieve this, air quality must be assessed annually against the new standards from the calendar year 2026 onwards. If the forthcoming standards are exceeded, air quality roadmaps must be drawn up and adopted within two years. The work being carried out aims to ensure that the standards will be met by 2030.

What does the Air Quality Directive Say?

Compared with the directives it replaces, Directive 2024/2881 contains a number of new provisions and stricter requirements, including:

The limit values for air pollutants are being lowered and aligned with the WHO’s 2021 limit values.
PM2.5 is given greater emphasis and now has its own limit values.
Alert thresholds for PM10 and PM2.5 are introduced.
The handling of assessment thresholds is simplified to one threshold per pollutant. The thresholds are lowered in most cases, in some cases significantly.
The requirement for the number of monitoring sites is doubled for the zone with the lowest population.
‘Super-stations’ for urban and regional background monitoring are introduced, monitoring a multitude of parameters including ultrafine particles.
Individuals may seek legal redress and receive compensation for harm caused if the standards are exceeded.

How is the New Directive Implemented in the EU Countries?

The directive is referred to as the ‘new’ one, but by now it is not really that new. Its content was hammered out during the early 2020s, and it was adopted on 23 October 2024. It requires the rules to be transposed into the national legislation of EU member states by 11 December 2026. The two Directives it replaces (2004/107/EC and 2008/50/EC) will then cease to apply.

In this context, this is a short timeframe to

draft legislation
submit it to consultation bodies and allow for amendments
finalise a draft bill
submit this to the legislature for adoption
and finally, bring the new regulations into force.

In addition to this, there is the work of drawing up supplementary regulations from the environmental authorities and guidance for practical implementation at local level.

Supplements in the Pipeline

At EU level, so-called implementing acts are also currently being drawn up. These provide further details on how certain parts of the new directive are to be interpreted and implemented. The acts which are to be published by 31 December 2026 include, amongst other things:

model calculations and construction of sampling zones (finalised 9 June 2026)
management of contributions from natural sources
options for allowing exceedances due to gritting and salting during the winter months.

The content of these documents is likely to result in amendments and additions to the national legislations based on the Directive.

The 2030 Standards Mean Work Already Now

The air quality standards to be met by 2030 will have consequences as early as the beginning of 2027. At that time, air quality for the calendar year 2026 must be compared with the new limit values. If the limits are exceeded, air quality roadmaps must be drawn up during 2027 and 2028. By the end of 2028, the roadmaps must be finalised, and measures must start being taken so that the standards can be met by the start of 2030.

The tight timetable may mean that the new national legislation will not be formally in place by the start of 2027, but in practice, its content is already known. To save time, work on assessing and reporting against the new standards can therefore begin as soon as data from 2026 becomes available.

New monitoring sites may also be required. To meet data availability requirements, such sites should be brought into operation as soon as possible, and if not sooner, then by the start of 2027.

Do you need a new monitoring station or do you need to upgrade your existing station with more or better monitoring equipment? Would you prefer not to own and maintain the instruments yourself, and instead utilize monitoring services? Contact OPSIS and we’ll help you!

The original of this article has been written and reviewed by humans.

Author

Bengt Löfstedt
OPSIS AB

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