The European Commission has recently launched, on the website http://europa.eu.int/yourvoice/forms/dispatch?form=356lang=FR, a public consultation to gather information and views with a view to the drawing up of a new EU Action Plan for the reduction of atmospheric pollution, whose publication is scheduled for the second half of 2005. The need for the new Action Plan emerges from some data furnished by the Commissioner for the environment, Stavros Dimas, during a press conference for the presentation of the consultation: life expectancy for each European citizen is reduced by approximately 9 months due to poor air quality; over 22,000 deaths are annually attributable to excessive levels of ozone; 23% of European forests are threatened by acid rain; and 63% of ecosystems register a deposit of nitrogen in excess of natural levels. The consultation in which individual citizens too may participate will end on 31 January 2005, and the results will be published by the end of March.
