The government majority and the opposition welcomed the amendments to the Air Protection Act on Tuesday, which is intended to ensure better air quality and a healthier life for citizens. They warned that 5,000 premature deaths in Croatia every year are due to poor air quality.

The Minister of Environmental Protection and the Green Transition, Marija Vuckovic, clarified that the bill will improve the implementation of inspections of maritime facilities carried out by the Maritime Safety Inspectorate.

In the future, the Inspectorate will be able to monitor part of the documentation that the master of a maritime facility must keep and which relates to the methods of reducing pollutant emissions from maritime facilities. The draft amendment also harmonises and supplements the legal framework for recording and monitoring emissions from engines of mobile machinery and motor vehicles and specifies the level of fines for administrative offences.

In 2020, the emission of suspended particles in Croatia was 25% above the recommended values

MEP Mihael Zmajlovic (Social Democratic Party), who supported the bill, pointed out that according to a report by the European Environment Agency (EEA), the emission of suspended particles in Croatia in 2020 was 25% above the values recommended by the World Health Organisation, making Croatia one of the worst examples in the EU.

He added that the draft law was necessary to ensure better air quality and a healthier life for citizens. However, he warned that real political will is needed to solve this long-standing problem.

He also pointed out that research by the Croatian Institute of Public Health shows that air pollution is responsible for around 15% of premature deaths in the country each year. Furthermore, it is estimated that air pollution costs the Croatian economy more than 600 million euros annually due to lost productivity and increased health costs.

Miletic: Zero tolerance for violence caused by odour

Urca Raukar-Gamulin (Mozemo party) also warned that the EEA estimates that there are more than 5,000 premature deaths every year in Croatia due to poor air quality.

She added that not only local and regional government units are responsible for air quality measuring stations, but that the law should also oblige companies involved in production that could potentially pollute the air to install air quality measuring devices and publish the results.

Marin Miletic (Most party) said that there should be no tolerance for any violence, including the “violence of stench” suffered by citizens in the city of Rijeka and Istria County from the local landfills Viskovo, Marinscina and Kastijun.

“It is an unbearable stench,” he warned. He also wondered when those responsible would realise that the county’s waste management centres are a complete failure and an outdated waste management concept. Organic waste should be banned from the Marinšcina and Kastijun centres and composting and biogas plants should be installed.