Revision of the Industrial Emissions Directive and update of the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR)

Industrial pollution is regulated by the EU directive on industrial emissions (IED). It lays down rules designed to prevent, or, if impracticable, to reduce emissions into air, water and land and to prevent the generation of waste, in order to achieve a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole. The European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR) ensures public access to data on emissions from major industrial activities. The ex-post evaluations of the directive and the regulation setting the register show they are generally performing well in practice. However, there are implementation issues, including inconsistences between the directive and the register. This briefing presents findings of publicly available sources on the implementation of both pieces of EU law and thus aims at informing their upcoming revision in the context of European Green Deal, in which Parliament will be a co-legislators.