Germany calls for Euro-6 standards now, and stricter NOx goals for diesels

Germany’s representative told a meeting of EU competition ministers last month that there was a growing consensus among EU states that the Euro-5 standards published four months ago could be tightened, and that the automotive industry would benefit from being given the next round of emissions targets now.

The idea of an early Euro-6 NOx standard received support from a “broad majority” of environment ministers meeting a few days earlier.

The Euro-5 proposals set a maximum limit of 200 mg/km of NOx from diesel cars from 2008. Germany believes it should come down to 180 mg/km, with a reduction to 80 mg/km by 2013.

T&E said Germany’s call for post-Euro-5 targets now was helpful. It also welcomed the idea of having the same NOx limit for diesel and petrol cars, but said it could be a lot stricter than 80 mg/km and implemented much sooner. “If EU car makers want to sell diesels in the US,” said T&E’s Aat Peterse, “they will have to comply with standards much tougher than Euro-5 from next year, so why wait?”

• Vehicle pollution is likely to exceed acceptable limits in many European streets, even where a city is within overall permitted pollution levels. A new report from the European Environment Agency says air quality in “canyon-like” streets (narrow roads and ones with high buildings on both sides) will reach illegal levels, even allowing for further efforts to cut emissions.

This news story is taken from the April 2006 edition of T&E Bulletin.