A new study published in February 2026 by the European Parliament’s Policy Department for Citizens, Equality and Culture takes a comprehensive look at the European Union’s legal framework on air pollution. The report analyses legislation, enforcement mechanisms, and court cases related to air quality, and highlights persistent challenges in ensuring clean air across the EU.
The findings reinforce a growing consensus in environmental health research: despite decades of legislation, air pollution remains one of the most serious environmental threats to public health in Europe.
For projects like ENACT, which investigates how environmental exposures influence health, the study provides further evidence of why better monitoring, data integration, and policy action are urgently needed.
Air pollution remains a major health threat in Europe
The study stresses that air pollution continues to cause a significant health burden across the European Union.
According to the report, air pollution was responsible for around 357,000 deaths in the EU in 2022, including approximately 239,000 linked to fine particulate matter (PM₂.₅).
Beyond mortality, exposure to polluted air contributes to a wide range of diseases, including stroke, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and lung cancer. As the report notes, “the effects on human health of polluted air are well documented”, with growing evidence linking exposure to additional conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative diseases.
These findings highlight the complex relationship between environmental exposures and health outcomes, an area that the ENACT project aims to explore through an exposomic approach.
The EU legal framework: strict rules, weak implementation
The study provides an overview of the EU’s legal framework on ambient air quality, which is primarily based on three pillars:
Sector-specific legislation regulating pollution sources
Together, these instruments aim to ensure that pollutant concentrations remain below levels harmful to human health and ecosystems.
However, the report concludes that the main challenge lies not in legislation itself but in its implementation. As the authors state, “the EU legislative framework on ambient air quality contains sufficient regulatory provisions. The primary deficiency lies in implementation, enforcement, and compliance”.
Many Member States still exceed EU limits for pollutants such as particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), and ozone.
How exposome research can support better policymaking
While legislation sets the framework for improving air quality, scientific research plays a key role in informing effective policies. Projects like ENACT contribute to this effort by advancing knowledge on how environmental exposures affect health.
Using an exposomic approach, ENACT studies the combined effects of multiple environmental factors, including air pollution, noise, light, and chemical exposures, and their links to non-communicable diseases. By integrating environmental monitoring, health data, and advanced analytical tools, the project aims to better understand how these exposures interact and impact populations over time.
This type of evidence can help policymakers identify high-risk exposures, prioritise interventions, and design more targeted public health strategies at the national, regional, or local level. In doing so, exposome research can support the development of policies that not only reduce pollution levels but also better protect human health across Europe.