Malta wants breathing space on air quality

Malta has informally asked Brussels for more time to come in line with the EU's strict air quality benchmarks.

The island is currently exceeding air quality limits imposed by EU legislation for particulate matter (PM10) - a sort of fine dust in the air - as well as nitrogen oxide and benzene.

The European Commission is still waiting for an official request for an extension but Malta has already informally discussed an application with the EU executive, The Times has learnt.

Under EU rules, once a formal request is submitted, the limit values for nitrogen dioxide and benzene will be postponed from January 2010 to January 2015 at the latest. That's if the Commission does not raise objections, however. For particulate matter, the exemption will end in June 2011.

The government was planning to sumbit its request last September, together with an air quality plan giving details of measures it would take to solve the problem of bad air quality, a spokesman for the Commission said. But Brussels is still waiting for it.

"Earlier this year Malta informed us of its intention to ask for an extension by September.

"Three months have now passed and we are still awaiting notification.

If the Commission does not receive this demand and Malta keeps breaching air quality legislation we will have no other option but to start legal action against the island," the official warned.

Though admitting that Malta has fallen back in its timeline to present the official notification, a spokesman for the government said it was still the island's intention to ask for an extension.

"We expect to be in a position to submit the application in the coming weeks. It is important to note that the application requires that an air quality plan is included in the notification and this is not yet finalised. However, substantial progress has been made and this should be finalised by Mepa shortly."

The EU's air quality directive recognises the fact that several member states have particular difficulties in achieving compliance with the limit values.

In fact, the Commission has already approved similar extensions for 18 other member states.

To obtain the Commission's approval, they had to prove that every attempt was made to reach the deadline but that it could not be met because of particular climatic conditions.