Number of Member States that met their 2020-2029 national emission reduction commitments for the five main air pollutants in 2023 and number of Member States that need to reduce their emission levels to meet their commitments

Information is based on data provided by Member States and is as yet unverified by the EC. Numbers are subject to change in relation to the NEC Directive inventory review results; this includes approved flexibility applications.

This assessment only takes Ireland and Czechia’s applications into account, as they are resubmissions of previously-approved applications. NEC Directive (Article 5(1)) establishes a process that allows Member States to adjust their emission inventories downwards for compliance checking. This can happen when failure to comply with the national emission reduction commitments is due to Member States having applied improved emission inventory methods, which have been updated to reflect scientific knowledge developed since the reduction commitments were originally set. In 2025, two Member States submitted flexibility applications for an inventory adjustment of 2023 emissions data (Ireland in relation to NMVOCs; Czechia in relation to NH₃). One Member State (Lithuania in relation to NH₃) submitted a flexibility application under Article 5(3) of the NEC Directive; this allows, under certain conditions, to compensate non-compliance with an emission reduction commitment by an equivalent emission reduction of another main pollutant.

NH₃, ammonia. PM_2.5, fine particulate matter. NO_x, nitrogen oxides. NMVOCs, non-methane volatile organic compounds. SO₂, sulphur dioxide.