Project

Reporting under the NEC directive

Lead Institute WO Institute of Forest Ecosystems

Involved Institutes WO Institute of Forest Ecosystems

The emissions of air pollutants has to be decreased in order to achieve a better air quality. Due to the long-term transboundary transport of air pollutants national regulations are not sufficient.

Background and Objective

The National Emission Ceilings Directive (NEC Directive) is an EU directive that for the first time sets national emission ceilings for four air pollutants. The emission ceilings are different for each EU Member State and apply to the air pollutants sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and volatile organic compounds other than methane (NMVOC).

Approach

For the first time, the Directive includes measurements from international monitoring networks to verify compliance with the emission ceilings. These include ICP Integrated Monitoring, ICP Waters, ICP Vegetation and ICP Forests. The national areas of forest environmental monitoring are to be seen in the context of the latter.