High noise levels have a significant impact on the health of Europeans, especially those living in urban areas. A recent study by the European Court of Auditors drew attention to the risks of neglecting this type of pollution that contributes to premature deaths.
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00:00High noise levels have a significant impact on Europeans' health, especially those living
00:21in urban areas. A recent study by a European court draws attention to the risks of neglecting
00:27this type of pollution that causes premature deaths. The shortcomings of the Environmental
00:34Noise Directive are at the heart of this episode of EU Decoded.
00:39More than 30 percent of the European population is exposed to noise levels that are harmful
00:44to humans. The young are the most sensitive, with more than 60,000 children in Europe suffering
00:50from cognitive and learning problems. Prolonged exposure to harmful noise can cause cardiovascular,
00:56metabolic and mental health diseases. A report by the European Court of Auditors
01:02released in January highlights the lack of EU-wide noise reduction targets. It also points
01:09out that many countries have lax monitoring. We took some soundings on the issue from European
01:15Straits.
01:16It is certainly annoying. There should be a preventive measure and good social
01:24communication, so that people use less cars, more means of transport, so that this
01:31reduces.
01:32According to the European Court of Auditors, it could certainly take some measures. It could
01:36certainly reduce the decibels produced by exhausts to a greater extent, I mean better
01:42technology.
01:43A lot of people make a lot of complaints about the planes that pass. They put posters,
01:51they do like protests and stuff. And I think they should work with this, with the planes,
01:57to be honest, to put like some noise cancelling thing.
02:00Animals are more affected, I think, than we are. And certainly that maybe putting sensors
02:04or things that allow to regulate a little, it would not hurt, certainly.
02:08When I wake up in the morning, under the noise of the clacks in my street, these are things
02:13that can influence my morale during the day, on my long-term life.
02:17With us is Robert Hutchison, which follows the EU's environmental policy.
02:23The environmental noise directive has been in place for over 20 years and has not been
02:30revised since then. Has this led to inaction from many Member States on this issue?
02:37The reason for inaction from Member States might be more to do with the fact that there
02:41are no binding targets in the directive. So Member States are required to produce plans,
02:47they are required to monitor the level of noise in the busier parts of their road network
02:52and in cities. But beyond that, reporting that to the Commission, they don't actually
02:56have to do anything from an EU perspective.
03:00So the result has been we found governments have been reluctant even to produce these
03:04noise maps on time. So there have been a number of cases where the Commission has been forced
03:09to take countries to court or threaten legal action.
03:11We know that the transport sector is one of the main sources of noise pollution and the
03:18European Commission has set a new target on this. What is the proposal?
03:23They set a target to reduce the number of people chronically affected by noise pollution
03:27by 30% by the end of this decade. They also said that they might look into reviewing the
03:34directive and setting a binding target if they deem it necessary, but so far nothing
03:39has been done in that regard. The new Commission told the European Court of Auditors that they
03:44accept their recommendations and they said that they would continue with this intention
03:49to review the directive and they said by 2029 they'll decide whether or not it needs to
03:54be updated or not.
03:56And finally, are there any sanctions to Member States that do not act on noise pollution?
04:02There are sanctions if they don't comply with the directive as there are for any EU
04:07directives, but the directive doesn't actually require them to reduce noise levels, it just
04:12requires them to identify them and put forward plans, but they're not legally binding. So
04:18France last year was referred to court for failing to produce this map and I think October
04:24last year another six countries were also warned that if they don't they might be on
04:29their way to court, Greece, Romania, several other countries.
04:33According to the World Health Organization, noise levels are considered excessive when
04:37they exceed 53 dB, a lower bar than the 55 dB threshold set by the European Union. Road
04:44traffic is the main source of noise pollution, 80%, followed by rail traffic, 15% and air
04:51transport, 1%. Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, France and Luxembourg are the EU Member States
04:58with the highest percentage of urban residents exposed to excessive noise. 15 of the 27 Member
05:05States have failed to prove data on noise pollution as required by the EU directive.
05:11With us is Peter Aschews, a centre-right MEP from Malta that has backed a citizen's petition
05:17to have more action on noise pollution. It seems that the political action against noise
05:24pollution has been neglected compared, for instance, on air pollution. What should the
05:30EU do to reverse this?
05:33Well, we need to find a better balance between commercial activity and the noise it produces
05:38and our residents' rights to live in peace. We need a better monitoring system and clearer
05:45provisions on what amounts to noise pollution and what are the specific obligations of Member
05:51States. So there are definitions which are sometimes vague and interpreted in different
05:58ways in different Member States.
06:00Are there any concrete measures that could be effective in protecting people from noise
06:06pollution and how expensive would they be?
06:10Yes, the directive already in place does establish the notion of what is harmful to citizens,
06:19what is annoying to citizens and it already established the notion of having thresholds
06:24of noise levels. So it's all a question of now implementing these requirements and yes,
06:31we need more resources, we need more empowerment to local authorities, especially enforcement
06:38authorities to be able to judge where we have a breach.
06:42And finally, is there a role to be played by the private sector, namely transport, in
06:48reducing noise and pollution?
06:51Absolutely, I think it is part of our drive for corporate social responsibility, especially
06:59for bigger companies because we need to be reasonable. When it comes to SMEs, family
07:05enterprises, there's so much you can do. But if you are a bigger company, yes, I think
07:11it is something nice to invest and to try to reduce noise pollution. But also from a
07:18public policy perspective, we must encourage, we must empower private undertakings to be
07:24able to take more initiatives in this regard.
07:28Noise pollution also has serious impacts in biodiversity and ecosystems, but clear guidelines
07:36are lacking, says the European Court of Auditors. This is yet another flaw on the EU's plan
07:42to hit the zero pollution target by 2030. Experts warn that without more ambitious measures,
07:49the number of people that will suffer from noise pollution could even increase.
07:57For more UN videos visit www.un.org