EU Green Week - Zero Pollution - Who pays the price for pollution?

The session recording:

Pollution affects health and biodiversity but all too often those who cause pollution do not fully pay for all the consequences. And it is often the most vulnerable in society who pay the price. Assigning a right price to pollution and creating incentives for alternatives, as required by the polluter pays principle, constitute a key driver to stimulate cleaner production and consumption.

The polluter pays principle is a guiding principle in the EU treaties but has still not been implemented sufficiently. The report of the European Court of Auditors highlighted some of the shortcomings and the Commission is committed to translating these findings across EU policies. For example, the revisions of the Industrial Emissions Directive, the Air Quality Directive and the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive will strengthen the polluter pays principle and explore the use of extended producer responsibilities. Moreover, there is a drive to reduce environmentally harmful subsidies and promote greener taxes which are linked, e.g. to pollution.

During the session, the invited speakers will discuss how we can better implement the polluter pays principle and thereby complete the phasing out of "pollution for free".