In accordance with its initiatives under the European Green Deal, the Commission is currently seeking public feedback on both its proposed update to the EU Industrial Emissions Directive (‘IED’) and for the proposed implementation of the EU Zero Pollution Action Plan.
Introduced in 2019, the European Green Deal sets out the Commission’s ambitious strategy to addressing climate-related and environmental challenges across various industry sectors. Amongst other things, it commits the EU to revising existing measures to address pollution from large industrial installations, to ensure EU permitting laws are consistent with EU policies on climate, energy and circular economy. The EU is also committing to adopt a zero pollution action plan to meet the Commission’s zero pollution ambition.
Alongside the Zero Pollution Action Plan and the revision of measures to address pollution from large industrial installations, the third headline action on zero pollution is the chemical strategy for sustainability (published in October 2020). The publication of the chemical strategy was the first step towards achieving what the EU terms a ‘toxic-free environment’. The EU strategies on biodiversity, climate neutrality, and Farm to Fork are also key in achieving the zero pollution ambitions under the European Green Deal.