ASSESSMENT OF AIR QUALITY AT THE EUROPEAN SCALE: EXISTING STATUS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND PRIORITIES

The scope of this paper is to describe the existing problems with respect to the lack of a harmonised assessment approach for air quality, and to provide general recommendations and priorities for an assessment approach at the European scale. Taken that the approach for assessment may diverge among the European countries and the players involved, recommendations are general and aim at providing the overall framework on the basis of which the formulation of specific assessment approaches could be worked out. The starting point for the paper is a synopsis of the characteristics of air quality assessments, as well as of the drawbacks for a harmonised assessment approach at the European scale. The assessment of air quality is then described in relation to sources as well as to effects. At a final stage the assessment goals are recognised and the link between air quality assessment and integrated assessment is also discussed.