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The identification of air pollution as a global problem contributing to health disorders and damage to the environment sparked the development of national legislation as well as international cooperation initiatives to improve air quality. As a result, the introduction of new and tighter air quality standards, national emission ceilings and more environmentally friendly technologies led to significant progress in reducing the levels of different pollutants in the ambient air. However, notwithstanding the achieved success, the overall damage dealt by air pollution remains high, while further attempts to tackle it are losing their momentum. With no perceptible finish line, the situation could last for decades, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of Euros outlays annually, thus compromising the very foundation of air policy. The article addresses this problem from the EU perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]