Noise Pollution in Europe: Unpacking a Worryingly “Quiet” Regulatory and Policy Issue

Noise constitutes an unwanted by-product of the use of transport infrastructure and various other social and economic activities, especially in dense urbanized territories, affecting citizens’ health, sleep regime, social behavior and psychological comfort as well as the environment. The Directive 2002/49/ec on the assessment and management of environmental noise (end) sets the legislative background for the prevention of environmental noise and the reduction of its harmful effects on humans putting Member States (ms) in the driving-seat when shaping and implementing noise rules. However, although it was the first comprehensive effort aspiring to carve out a coherent eu-wide noise policy, its fragmented and problematic implementation raises crucial questions about its effectiveness. To this end, except from the end enforcement at national level, emphasis will be given to the noise protective regime emerging from echr and the ECtHR case law as well as to the most recent developments in the field, such as the “smart city” mechanisms for improving acoustic well-being in urban living spaces and the Dutch concept of “environmental distribution policy”.