Noise Mapping in the EU: State of Art and 2018 Challenges

A coordinated EU policy on noise has been developed in the last decades and the Commission adopted and implemented a directive on environmental noise -- the Directive 2002/49/EC (the Environmental Noise Directive - END). It has also been evaluated that END had low administrative costs per citizen, and with a favourable cost-benefit ratio of 1:29. However, the Directive does not fully exploit its potential EU added value, due to delays in implementation and requires a more meticulous execution. Although some issues have not been solved yet, several guidance are available and the importance to implement the END has been shown. END, however, obliges the European Commission to adapt its Annexes to technical and scientific progress: in particular, it has recently been finalised to establish common noise assessment methods (Annex II), producing a new common method called CNOSSOS-EU. EU members states are at a turning point: the opportunity to set up a common database of noise exposure based on common methods should be seized on time. Members States should be ready to implement the next mapping round, testing the new methodology and being aware of the framework already established. Challenges and opportunities of next mapping rounds will be detailed in the paper.