Commission plans to revise the existing rules on emissions from industrial installations across the EU are under attack from business leaders for being overly costly and lacking flexibility.
The proposal, presented by the Commission on 21 December 2007, seeks to ensure that existing rules on industrial emissions are better complied with, after a review revealed that only 50% of industrial installations in the EU have thus far been granted permits containing limit emission values.
Under the new plans, installations would only be able to diverge from the use of "best available techniques" (BATs) under specific conditions, meaning that governments will no longer be able to grant increased flexibility to certain installations according to their location or design.
It is this provision that constitutes the major sticking point for industry, which relied on such exemptions to keep certain older plants alive. The Commission says it will investigate the possibility of introducing more flexibility through the development of EU-wide rules on emissions trading for NOx and SO2 – similar to those in existence for CO2 – although no such provisions are included in the legislative proposal.
Minimum emission limits for large combustion plants would be strengthened under the new rules, and medium-sized plants generating between 20 and 50 MegaWatts (MW), as well as activities such as the production of wood-based panels and preservation of wood – until now excluded from the scope of the directive – would also be subjected to limit values, in order to ensure that all member states receive the same high level of environmental protection.
Furthermore, the proposal introduces minimum provisions on environmental inspections of installations, a review of permit-granting conditions, and reporting of compliance. Incentives for the development and promotion of environmentally-friendly technologies are also included.
