The Environmental Noise Directive: EU’s Strategy to Protect Public Health and Sustainability

The Impact of Environmental Noise on Health

Long-term exposure to environmental noise significantly impacts physical and mental health. Noise pollution is a health problem for at least 1 in 5 EU citizens, making it a major environmental health concern in Europe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), environmental noise is the second largest environmental cause of health problems, just after air pollution. 

While the impact of noise on health is well-documented, emerging evidence continues to reveal additional health effects. Urban populations are particularly affected by health impacts from exposure to transportation noise.

Although typically not loud enough to cause immediate damage to the ears, the impact of noise exposure above a specific threshold can lead to non-auditory health effects. These include sleep disturbances and negative impacts on the cardiovascular system, as noted by WHO Europe. There is a clear need for efforts from the EU to reduce the problem that affects the life of millions of citizens and the EU's main goal is to reduce noise pollution to protect human health. Policies ensure that information about the effects of noise pollution is available to Europeans, while also substantially reducing noise pollution by implementing cost-effective measures.

Similarly, the European Green Deal, a set of policy initiatives established by the Commission, aims to make the EU climate-neutral in 2050.

The European Noise Directive: A Framework for Action

The European Noise Directive is the principal EU legislation identifying and addressing noise pollution. It serves as the framework that links international, EU and local actions. Rather than setting a common noise reduction limit, the Directive establishes a unified common approach to prevent and mitigate the harmful effects of environmental noise exposure. 

This approach focuses on four key action areas:

  • Prevention and reduction of environmental noise, 

  • Determination of exposure levels and assessment of health impacts,

  • Preservation of areas with good environmental noise quality, and

  • Ensuring public access to information about environmental noise and its effects. 

The Directive is implemented by mandating EU countries to create and publish noise maps and management plans every five years for major roads, railways, airports, and crowds with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Public consultation is also required before finalising the previously mentioned management plans.

On the other hand, the Directive only serves as a knowledge base to introduce and amend noise limits by allowing the Member State authorities to develop their own action plans without setting specific EU-wide environmental noise limits.

Initial Steps and Progress

The first implementation report, published in 2011, summarised the Directive’s progress and potential improvements. The second implementation published in 2017 showed varied progress across EU countries, influenced by each country’s implementation level, resources, and, most importantly, ambition.

The third and latest implementation report was published in 2023, highlighting plenty of progress achieved and a more systematic assessment of noise levels. Despite the great news, the implementation warns that to achieve the goal of reducing the number of people affected by environmental noise by 30% by 2030 (part of the zero pollution plan), the intensity of actions taken by the EU needs to be increased rapidly.

Some actions that have yet to be taken can be described by the Dublin Noise Action Plan 2024 - 2028. These actions include:

  • DCC: Noise Management Frameworks

    • DCC_M2: Aims for the Dublin City Council noise working group to establish terms of reference and membership, while holding meetings at least twice a year.

    • DCC_M4: Aims to prepare an annual progress report regarding the implementation of the Noise Action Plan and submit it to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

    • DCC_M5: Aims to review and investigate all noise complaints received in a timely manner, in accordance with national and international best practices.

Assessing the Directive’s Effectiveness

In 2016, the European Commission created an evaluation of the Directive’s effectiveness, coherence, and relevance to EU policies and values. The evaluation confirmed the Directive remains highly relevant for EU policy making, given the persistent issue of noise pollution as a prominent environmental health problem.

It was also determined that while progress has been made towards the approach, there are still delays in developing and adopting common assessment techniques. The Directive has also been efficient – with a favourable cost-benefit ratio of 1:29 where action plans have been implemented.

However, due to implementation delays, the Directive has yet to deliver all its potential benefits to the EU. The evaluation is based on a public consultation and EU publication article. 

By maintaining and enhancing these efforts, the EU can continue to mitigate the adverse health effects of environmental noise and protect the well-being of its citizens.

We at Lios are happy to be part of this change by producing safe, non-toxic, and low-impact products like SoundBounce – a game-changing, environmentally friendly, and fully recyclable solution to reduce noise at the source.

Creating the technology to foster a quieter world, Lios uses components that provide an ideal eco-friendly solution, replacing harsh chemicals and plastics previously used to address these problems. 

Lios Group