EU calls for more efforts to protect the 100 million EU citizens exposed to noise levels harmful to their health - Main contents

A conference on Noise Pollution organised in Brussels today, has called on EU Member States to intensify efforts to reduce noise from traffic. The conference is organised by the European Commission, and supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and European Environmental Agency (EEA).

A new Commission report shows that Member States need to step up their efforts to implement the existing EU rules on excessive noise to better protect citizens.

Administrative costs to implement the Directive are low (on average €0.18 per inhabitant). Although noise reduction measures, such as noise barriers flanking motorways, low noise road surfaces, or local traffic limits have a very positive cost-benefit ratio, their introduction has been limited due to high initial costs.

The Commission, WHO and EEA illustrated how noise pollution is a major environmental concern. Exposure to excessive noise from road, rail and air transport affects the health of more than 100 million people in Europe, leading to several thousand premature deaths in the EU every year.

Based on the latest data conference participants will look at the root causes of noise and its effects at the high-level conference on 24 April. Together with Member States and stakeholders, instruments and policies to tackle noise pollution will be examined.

Karmenu Vella, European Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, said: "Environmental noise is a very real problem for millions of citizens. We have rules to protect them from excessive noise from transport, but Member States need to intensify their efforts to implement them to bring noise levels down towards recommended levels. We will help facilitate through the new Environmental Implementation Review. Today's conference is the starting point for a broader dialogue with all stakeholders to ensure we strike the right balance between the transport we all depend on, and the healthy lives we want".

A recent evaluation of the Environmental Noise Directive - carried out in the context of the Commission’s Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) programme - showed that the Directive is fit for purpose. But it is not delivering fully due to delays in implementation. 15 years after adoption of the Directive, around 50% of the action plans have still not been notified to the Commission. Highly decentralised approaches taken by some Member States is one prominent cause for some of the significant implementation delays.

Background:

The Environmental Noise Directive is the key EU legislative instrument for protecting citizens from excessive noise pollution caused by traffic and industrial installations. Its purpose is (1) to define a common approach intended to avoid, prevent or reduce the harmful effects of environmental noise and (2) to provide a basis for developing measures to reduce noise emitted by the major sources. The Directive does not set noise targets or limits, but leaves this to Member States.

Progress has been achieved at the European level towards a common approach to address excessive noise, for instance by introducing common methodologies to map noise. This will make noise mapping more comparable over time and between countries and thus better inform EU policies.

Further information

European Commission report on the implementation of the Environmental Noise Directive

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?qid=1490941871748&uri=COM:2017:151:FIN

European Commission information on noise policy: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/noise/evaluation_en.htm

European Environment Agency: Updated estimates for population exposure to noise

http://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/human/noise/sub-sections/noise-in-europe-updated-population-exposure

European Environment Agency: Explore noise data in Europe

http://noise.eionet.europa.eu/