Commission to establish register of emissions of industrial pollutants
The European Commission is planning to set up a European register of emissions from industrial pollutants in 2003. The register will include data on 50 pollutants from some 20,000 industrial facilities throughout the EU. It will be publicly accessible and enable comparisons between different facilities' environmental performance. Plans for the register are described in the European directive on integrated pollution prevention and control. Member States will be required to supply data for the register every three years. The first of these reports is expected in 2003, and the data it comprises will be published on the Internet by the European Commission and the European Environment Agency.