The European Commission has published a proposal to revise the IPPC Directive. The proposal also incorporates six ‘sectoral’ industrial emissions Directives as annexes: large combustion plants; waste incineration; solvent emissions; and titanium dioxide. The proposal would only extend the scope of the Directive in a limited way (for example, to combustion installations between 20 and 50 MW, the preservation of wood and wood products and the production of wood panels), but it introduces more formal requirements for permitting, reference to BREFs, operator monitoring and inspection. This paper, published in Environmental Law Review (Volume 10(4), 2008 pp. 258-282) examines the proposal and considers the changes made, commenting on the reasons for them.