According to a report released by the agency late last week, preliminary data for 2013 show that ten member states exceeded set limits for one or more kinds of emissions.
In the case of Portugal, the information gathered by the agency shows that emissions were below the set limits for all pollutants, including nitrogen oxide, non-volatile organic compounds, sulphur dioxide and ammoniac in all the years from 2010 to 2013.
“Road transport emissions are one of the main reasons for the high number of excess levels of nitrogen oxide, in part because transport has grown more than expected,” the report said, citing also an increase in the number of diesel vehicles, which are more polluting than petrol-driven ones. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg all exceeded the set limits for this pollutant.
The EEA noted that Germany was the only country that overshot the limits for all four pollutants listed, while Austria, Denmark and Ireland exceeded these levels for two pollutants.