Industrial Emissions Directive (2010/75/EU) (IED) is the main EU instrument regulating pollutant emissions from industrial installations that have harmful effect on human health and the environment, in particular through better application of Best Available Techniques (BAT). 

The decision of the European Commission on the revision of the legislation on industrial emissions led to the preparation of the Industrial Emissions Directive, which replaced seven separate existing directives, namely:

  • Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive;
  • Large Combustion Plants (LCP) Directive;
  • Waste Incineration Directive (WID);
  • Directive on reducing emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs);
  • Three existing directives on titanium dioxide (TiO2).

For this reason, the IED consists of seven chapters. Chapter I and VII contain general definitions and provisions that apply equally to every installation within the scope of the Directive.

Chapter II only applies to the activities listed in Annex I (IPPC installations). The remaining chapters contain specific rules and apply to specific areas, such as:

  • Combustion plants (Chapter 3);
  • Waste incineration plants (Chapter 4);
  • Installations and processes using Volatile Organic Compounds (Chapter 5);
  • Titanium dioxide industry (Chapter 6).

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) is based on several pillars – an integrated approach, use of best available techniques (BAT) associated Emission Limit Values (ELV), flexibility, inspections and public participation.

The integrated approach means that the permits must take into account the whole environmental performance of the plant, covering e.g. emissions to air, water and land, waste generation, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents, and restoration of the site upon closure. The permit conditions including emission limit values must be based on the Best Available Techniques (BAT). The definition of BAT and of the BAT-associated environmental performance at EU level is coordinated by the European IPPC Bureau at the EU Joint Research Centre in Seville (Spain). 

This process results in Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (so called BREF documents) and so-called BAT Conclusions (BATC), adopted by the Commission as Implementing Decisions. These documents include the description of the techniques to be considered BAT and their associated ELV, with an aim to achieve a higher level of environmental protection. The IED requires that these BAT conclusions are the reference for setting permit conditions. The majority of BREFs cover specific agro-industrial activities and such BREFs are referred to as „sectoral BREFs“. However, there are also a number of ‘horizontal BREFs’ dealing with cross-cutting issues such as energy efficiency, industrial cooling systems or emissions from storage with relevance for industrial manufacturing in general.

The IED contains mandatory requirements on environmental inspections. It also ensures that the public has a right to participate in the decision-making process, and enables public access to permit applications, issued permits and the results of the monitoring of releases.

National legislation

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC Directive 2008/1/EC) Directive, a part of the Industrial Emissions Directive, has been transposed in Serbia in 2004 through the Law on Integrated Pollution Prevention and  Control (“Official Gazette of RS”, no. 135 of December 21, 2004; 25 of March 13, 2015, and 109 of November 19, 2021) and its implementation,  due to its complexity, is still ongoing. This Directive requires the issuance of integrated permits that regulate the release of pollutants into the environment from individual industrial installations. Competent  Authorities for issuing integrated permits are the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) and Provincial Secretariat of Vojvodina for certain production sectors, as well as Local Self Governments for farms and food production. According to the latest data, there are 227 IPPC installations in Serbia. This number will always be variable due to frequent changes in the sector for various causes such as variation in size, restructuring, change of ownership, etc.

IED Serbia project

The IED Serbia project provided support to the Ministry in the implementation of IED, both at the technical and capacity building level.

The project team has supported MEP in harmonizing the existing legislation with the requirements set forth in the Industrial Emissions Directive. One of the results is the draft new Law on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, together with a proposal for a Regulation that would regulate the integrated permitting process.

An analysis was also performed of the main amendments to IPPC legislation, introduced by the Industrial Emissions Directive, which relates to certain industrial sectors. The analysis revealed that 75 new operators could be added to the IPPC list once the amended Law is adopted, and the list of activities that are obliged to obtain IPPC permits is completely harmonized with Annex I of the Industrial Emissions Directive.

The project provided significant support to MEP in the preparation of the Negotiating Position for Chapter 27 on Environment that has been submitted in January 2020. The project prepared the Specific Implementation Plan for the Industrial Emissions Directive (DSIP for IED), which is a constituent part of this document. The Plan describes the measures necessary for the complete transposition of IED at the institutional level, as well as at the level of each industrial installation. Compliance with the best available techniques and emission limit values defined by the Directive was analysed for the majority of IPPC installations, as well as their financial ability to implement the necessary measures. Detailed technical, financial, and socio-economic analyses prepared will be used in the process of negotiations with the EU, to get extended periods to reach full compliance with the Directive requirements.