Article 21

1. Where transboundary transport of air pollution from one or more Member State contributes significantly to the exceedance of any limit value, ozone target value, average exposure reduction obligation or alert threshold in another Member State, that other Member State shall notify the Member States from which the air pollution originated and the Commission thereof. 2. The Member States concerned shall cooperate with each other, including by establishing joint teams of experts and with technical support from the Commission, to identify the sources of air pollution, contributions of those sources to exceedances in another Member State and the measures to be taken individually and in coordination with other Member States to address those sources, and draw up coordinated activities, such as the coordination of air quality plans pursuant to Article 19, in which each Member State shall address pollution sources located in its territory, in order to remove such exceedances. Member States shall respond to each other in a timely manner, and inform the Commission, no later than 3 months after being notified by another Member State in accordance with the first subparagraph. 3. The Commission shall be informed of, and invited to be present or assist in any cooperation referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article. The Commission may request the Member States concerned to provide an update on progress in implementing any coordinated activities established pursuant to that paragraph. Where appropriate, the Commission shall, taking into account the reports established pursuant to Article 11 of Directive (EU) 2016/2284, consider whether further action shall be taken at Union level in order to reduce precursor emissions responsible for transboundary pollution. 4. Member States shall, where appropriate pursuant to Article 20, prepare and implement coordinated short-term action plans covering neighbouring zones in other Member States. Member States shall ensure that neighbouring zones in other Member States receive all appropriate information regarding those short-term action plans without undue delay. 5. Where the alert thresholds or information thresholds are exceeded in zones close to national borders, information on these exceedances shall be provided as soon as possible to the competent authorities in the neighbouring Member States concerned. That information shall also be made available to the public. 6. In the notification referred to in paragraph 1, Member States may, for the relevant year, identify: zones in which transboundary transport of air pollution from one or more Member States contributes significantly to the exceedances of limit values or target values in those zones; average exposure territorial units, in which transboundary transport of air pollution from one or more Member States contributes significantly to the exceedances of the level determined by the average exposure reduction obligations in those units. A Member State may also provide the Member States concerned and the Commission with the lists of any such zones and average exposure territorial units together with information on concentrations and the evidence demonstrating that air pollution from transboundary sources, including from third countries, on which that Member State has no direct control, contributes significantly to the exceedances. The Commission may consider that information, where relevant, for the purposes of Article 18. 7. When establishing plans as provided for in paragraphs 2 and 4 and in informing the public as referred to in paragraph 5, Member States shall, where appropriate, endeavour to pursue cooperation with third countries, and in particular with candidate countries. Member States may, where appropriate, request technical support from the Commission.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-16 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.