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A new confrontation between Brussels and Bucharest is about to begin after the European Commission launched new legal action against Romania, accusing politicians in Bucharest of failing to comply with their obligations to monitor and improve air quality. The European Commission’s decision to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) puts additional pressure on the Romanian state at a time when pollution problems continue to affect public health and the country’s credibility in meeting its environmental commitments. This new procedure (announced on the 11th of December) comes after repeated warnings in recent years, accompanied by letters of formal notice, technical reports, and official calls for Romania to modernize its monitoring systems and adopt stronger policies to reduce harmful emissions.
European legal framework – What do the air quality directives actually require?
It is well known that at European Union level, air quality standards have been established in two fundamental directives: Directive 2008/50/EC and Directive 2004/107/EC. These two directives not only impose limit values for various pollutants, but also strict rules on how Member States must monitor the air breathed by the population. These directives require each EU Member State to install a sufficient number of strategically located monitoring stations to accurately reflect actual pollution levels, to ensure the quality, accuracy, and continuity of the data collected, and to report all this data to the European Commission on a regular basis in standardized formats. Other obligations include taking appropriate measures when pollution levels exceed legal limits. The stated aim of these regulations is therefore to ensure that European citizens have access to the cleanest possible air, free from pollutants, and that national authorities have comprehensive information at their disposal so that they can intervene quickly in risky situations.
In Romania’s case, the European Commission’s findings highlighted an incomplete and unreliable monitoring network. In its decision from the 11th of December 2025, the European Commission stated that Romania is failing to ensure adequate monitoring of air pollution. Although the Romanian authorities have initiated certain modernization projects, Brussels’ assessment highlights significant deficiencies in the national air quality measurement network. The Commission also mentioned the major problems in Romania. From the EC’s point of view, the number of monitoring stations is insufficient in several regions of the country, and the location of some sampling points does not comply with the technical criteria imposed by the EU. Furthermore, in the EC’s opinion, the data collected does not meet quality standards, which affects both the accuracy of reports and the credibility of results. Another negative aspect raised by the EC is that the monitoring of key pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, heavy metals, and benzo(a)pyrene is incomplete. In the absence of this accurate information, the Commission considers that Romania cannot realistically assess the risks to public health, and public policies on pollution reduction are implicitly affected.
The proceedings against Romania did not come out of the blue, but were in fact the result of a long list of unfulfilled promises. Back in 2017, the European Commission sent a first letter of formal notice, followed by a new warning in 2019 and a reasoned opinion in 2023. Throughout this time, the governments in Bucharest promised to modernize the national monitoring network, but implementation was delayed or remained partially completed. At the same time, several cities in Romania—including Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Brașov, and Iași—have been subject to infringement proceedings in the past for repeatedly exceeding particulate matter limits. In some cases, Romania has already been condemned by the CJEU for persistent exceedances of PM10 values. The new action announced by the Commission does not refer to exceedances, but to Romania’s inability to measure and report data correctly. In practice, Brussels accuses Romania of not even providing the minimum information necessary to officially assess the real situation of pollution. The second procedure for which Romania risks sanctions is its failure to comply with its commitments to reduce emissions. Thus, in addition to the referral to the CJEU regarding air monitoring, the European Commission has launched another procedure against Romania, sending a new reasoned opinion for failing to meet the targets for reducing PM2.5 fine particle emissions. This obligation is set out in Directive 2016/2284, also known as the NEC Directive (National Emission Ceilings). For those unfamiliar with the terms, the NEC Directive requires each EU Member State to limit emissions of pollutants such as ammonia, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, or fine particles; to develop a National Air Pollution Control Program describing concrete measures to reduce emissions and to update this program periodically to reflect technological developments and new environmental policies. Even though Romania only adopted its own PNCPA in 2023, the Commission considers that the document does not include sufficient concrete actions to ensure that emissions are reduced in line with the commitments made. Moreover, the national inventories submitted by Romania for the period 2022–2025 show that the country continues to exceed the limits for PM2.5, a pollutant associated in particular with road traffic, residential heating, and certain industrial processes.
What risks does Romania face if it does not take action in the next two months?
After the reasoned opinion is sent, Romania will have two months to respond and convince the Commission that it is implementing the necessary measures. If it fails to do so, the next step is to refer the matter to the CJEU, where the risks for the Romanian state include lump-sum fines imposed when the judgment is delivered, together with daily penalties until compliance is achieved. Another risk is a possible deterioration of institutional relations with Brussels in the field of environmental policy, which would affect Romania’s credibility in future negotiations on the green transition. Given the precedents set by other Member States and depending on the severity of the non-compliance, the financial penalties that Romania risks could reach tens of millions of euros.
Behind all these legal proceedings lies a concrete reality: air pollution is one of the most significant health risk factors in Europe. The European Environment Agency has estimated that tens of thousands of people in Romania die prematurely each year due to exposure to fine particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide, and tropospheric ozone. The effects of exposure to fine particles on the population lead to an increase in the incidence of respiratory diseases, worsening cardiovascular conditions, reduced life expectancy in highly polluted urban environments, and impaired child development, especially in the early stages of life. Therefore, from the European Commission’s perspective, accurate air quality monitoring is not just a bureaucratic obligation for a Member State, but an essential tool for protecting public health.
The question we ask is: Why is Romania delaying in fulfilling its obligations? The answer is very simple. State institutions have major administrative and financial problems (Romania has the largest deficit in the EU and the highest inflation) and, more recently, political problems (the Social Democrats threaten every other day that they will leave the government). Experts consulted in recent years have pointed to several reasons for Romania’s delay in fulfilling its obligations. One reason is that the monitoring network has long been underfunded, with outdated equipment, and interinstitutional management fragmented between the Ministry of the Environment, county agencies, and local authorities, which hinders modernization.
Another cause of delays identified by experts is the administrative delays encountered in projects to expand the air monitoring network, including lengthy procurement procedures and the lack of firm policies on urban traffic and residential heating. All these causes make it difficult to achieve real reductions in emissions. Furthermore, frequent changes in leadership in environmental institutions have led to the interruption or postponement of essential projects.
Romania faces a race against time to avoid sanctions
To avoid being referred to the CJEU, Romania will have to demonstrate in the coming period (specifically, in the next two months) that it is modernizing its monitoring system and adopting the most stringent measures possible to reduce pollution. Among the priorities identified by experts are increasing the number of monitoring stations in under-covered areas, upgrading existing equipment, implementing sustainable urban mobility policies, encouraging the transition to less polluting heating systems, and, last but not least, increased controls on industrial activities. At the same time, state authorities must improve the transparency and consistency of official reports to the European Commission. Between European obligations and the realities on the ground, the current situation shows that Romania remains vulnerable in terms of compliance with European air quality rules. Although some progress has been made, it is insufficient to provide a complete picture of the actual level of pollution and to ensure the reduction of hazardous emissions. For this very reason, the European Commission’s action is not only a legal sanction, but also a strong signal that Romania must take its environmental protection responsibilities very seriously. The stakes are not only to avoid substantial fines, but also to improve the quality of life for millions of Romanians.