Most EU countries are meeting legally binding limits on key air pollutants, but several are still missing targets — with ammonia from agriculture remaining a sticking point.
In 2024, 21 EU Member States met their reduction commitments for each of five main air pollutants under the National Emission reduction Commitments Directive (NECD), the European Environment Agency said in its latest update on Wednesday.
The pollutants are ammonia, non-methane volatile organic compounds (gases linked to smog), nitrogen oxides (often from traffic and industry), fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 (tiny particles that can enter the lungs) and sulphur dioxide.
Six member states failed to meet commitments for at least one of the pollutants. Four countries still need to cut ammonia emissions further to meet their 2020–2029 commitments, with most ammonia pollution coming from agriculture.
The biggest reductions have been recorded for sulphur dioxide, with 25 Member States already meeting the tougher 2030 reduction commitments for that pollutant.
City rankings updated for long-term exposure
The agency also updated its European city air quality viewer, which ranks cities based on the combined mortality risk linked to long-term exposure to PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide and ground-level ozone over the past two calendar years, the EEA said.
Nordic cities were among the cleanest in the updated ranking, while Zaragoza in Spain, Catanzaro in Italy, Valongo in Portugal and Rijeka in Croatia were among cities that improved compared with the previous update, according to the same source.
Separately, EU-wide emissions for the five main pollutants continued to fall, with reported emissions of all pollutants lower in 2024 than in 2005, according to the EEA’s annual European Union emission inventory report covering 1990–2024.
Sulphur dioxide fell the most over that period, followed by nitrogen oxides.
