How is air pollution in Brussels, in comparison with other European cities?
In large agglomerations like Paris, Berlin or Milan, the yearly limit value for NO2 is still being exceeded on locations with a lot of traffic, just as in Brussels. The highest concentrations of particulate matter are measured in East-European countries, because coal still is a major source for heating and power generation there.
On a map of the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide throughout Europe, Brussels and Antwerp are clearly recognisable as red dots, just like Paris, London and Amsterdam and the cities in North-Italy.
In Denmark, a car costs about twice as much as here, after VAT and taxes. Stockholm is another good example: it has sort of a road toll that had significantly (and permanently) reduced the severity of traffic jams. In Berlin and other German cities, low emission zones have been introduced for years, which prohibits the most polluting cars from entering the inner city. Such a low-emission zone will be installed in Antwerp in 2017
More information can be found in the annual report on air quality of the European Environment Agency.
For EU maps of measurements, see map with data of 2013
