May 26, 2007
The EU's Council of Ministers reached a deal with MEPs on May 30 to introduce tighter restrictions on pollutant emissions from cars and light commercial vehicles. The Euro 5 scheme imposes caps on small particles, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NOx), and will be applied from September 2009. The Euro 6 regulation will place even stricter limits on NOx, and will be in effect from 2014.
Also to be introduced is a standardised method for measuring fuel consumption and CO2 emissions, which the council has argued will eliminate technical barriers to free trade.
