Public policies to combat air pollution

On 21 January 2016, the Court of Auditors published a report on public policies to combat air pollution requested by the National Assembly’s Public Policy Evaluation and Control Committee, pursuant to Article 132-5 of the Code of Financial Courts. The Court notes that there is no clearly structured policy in France, but a stack of heterogeneous devices, applications of European directives. Several measures have had significant effects, such as the monitoring of air quality or the reduction of releases of industrial pollutants. However, with the exception of industry and energy production, the ‘polluter pays’ principle is not applied (especially in the agricultural and residential-tertiary sectors), and that of subsidiarity is not fully applied, which undermines the effectiveness of the various actions carried out. In addition, national interventions disrupt local action and have been able to delay or limit the implementation of effective tools. The Court considers that the fight against air pollution requires a much stronger involvement of all economic agents, including individuals. It makes 12 recommendations. This report is available on [the Court’s website] (https://www.ccomptes.fr/fr/publications/les-politiques-publiques-de-lutte-contre-la-pollution-de-lair). The published files correspond to the data used in the preparation of the report.