Policy initiatives > EU > Legislation on vehicles and fuels

Legislation on vehicles and fuels

Photo by European Commission	Photo by Statoil

» Light vehicles

» Heavy-duty road vehicles

» Non-road machinery

» Fuels

Emission requirements for light road vehicles have existed in the EU since the early 1970s, while the first requirements for heavy vehicles came in at the end of the 1980s. They have been tightened up several times over the years, a process that is still going on. The legislation has also been extended to include non-road vehicles and machinery, as well as two- and three-wheeled vehicles.

The current exhaust emission requirements regulate four groups of compounds: nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM).

Emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) are not currently regulated for any type of vehicle, but the Commission has proposed a directive (December 2007) that will force make car makers to reduce the emissions from the average car sold within the EU to 130 g CO2/km by 2012.

Light vehicles (cars and light commercial vehicles)

The light category of vehicles covers road vehicles under 3.5 tonnes, i.e. both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.

Under the Euro 4 standards (that took effect in 2005) diesel vehicles are allowed to emit around three times more nitrogen oxides than petrol vehicles.

Emissions of particulates from petrol vehicles are not regulated since these are very low compared to emissions from diesel engines. Some direct-injection petrol engines can, however, emit almost the same level of particulates as a diesel engine.

A new directive, agreed in December 2006, will set Euro 5 standards for fine particles, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from 2009 for new models (2010 for all vehicles), and tougher Euro 6 standards for NOx only from 2014 for new models (2015 for all vehicles).

The main effect of Euro 5 is to reduce the emission of particulate matter from diesel cars from 25 to 5 mg/km. Euro 6 will mainly reduce the emissions of NOx from diesel cars further, from 180 to 80 mg/km.

For latest new on this directive, see European Commission, DG Enterprise.

The new Euro standards for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulates (PM) from passenger cars. Emissions in mg/km. There are also standards for hydrocarbons, but these are not included in the table.

 1 Diesel cars only.

Heavy duty road vehicles (lorries and buses)

The legislation currently in force for heavy-duty vehicles is Directive 2005/55/EC (agreed in co-decision) and Directive 2005/78/EC (implementing provisions). This legislation defines the emission standard currently in force, Euro IV, as well as the next stage (Euro V) which will enter into force in October 2008. In addition, it defines a non-binding standard called Enhanced Environmentally-friendly Vehicle (EEV).

A proposal for Euro VI standards for heavy-duty road vehicles was presented by the Commission just before Christmas 2007. The proposed standards are close to those that will come into effect in the United States in 2010.

The new requirements are proposed to come into force in 2013 (but would not include all vehicles until October 2014) and entail a reduction of 80 per cent in nitrogen oxides (NOx) and 66 per cent in particulate matter (PM) emissions compared to the Euro V limits. The emission requirements for hydrocarbons (HC) are also stiffened.

Although the proposal does not take a stance on specific technical solutions it is clear that particulate filters must be fitted to all diesel vehicles in order to meet the PM requirement. Exhaust gas recirculation and after-treatment devices would be necessary to meet the new NOx standard.

The proposal and its impact assessment are available from the Commission.

EU emission standards for heavy road vehicles. There are also standards for carbon monoxide and ammonia, and special standards for methane for gas-driven vehicles, but these are not included in the table.

1 Both ESC and ETC test cycle.

2 ESC test cycle only.

3 ESC and ETC test cycle respectively.

Non-road machinery

The file of Non-Road Mobile Machinery (NRMM) currently contains three directives that regulate exhaust emissions from and test procedure for different types of engines.

The mother directive (97/68/EC) covers diesel fuelled engines used in excavators, bulldozers, front loaders, back loaders, compressors, etc.

The second directive (2002/88/EC) covers spark ignited engines up to 18 kW for engines installed in handheld and non-handheld equipment.

The third directive (2004/26/EC) covers diesel-fuelled engines from 19 to 560 kW for common NRMM and regulates the emission in three further stages. The directive also includes railcars and locomotives and inland waterway vessels, and for the two latter categories there are no upper limits concerning engine power. The different stages in the third directive are as follows:

• Stage III A covers engines from 19 to 560 kW including constant speed engines, railcars, locomotives and inland waterway vessels – from January 2006.

• Stage III B covers engines from 37 to 560 kW including, railcars and locomotives – from January 2011.

• Stage IV covers engines between 56 and 560 kW – from January 2014.

The final Stage IV requirements closely match the so-called US Tier 4 standards adopted by the US EPA.

Fuels

The quality of fuels, especially the sulphur content, is important to regulate in order to achieve low emissions from vehicles. Directive 2003/17/EC prescribes 50 ppm as maximum sulphur contents for diesel and petrol.

On 31 January 2007, the European Commission proposed new standards for transport fuels that will reduce their contribution to climate change and air pollution:

• It is proposed that from 1 January 2009 all diesel fuel marketed will have a maximum sulphur content 10 ppm. From the same date, the maximum permitted content of polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in diesel will be reduced by one-third.

• The permitted sulphur content of gasoil for use by non-road machinery and inland waterway barges will also be cut. This too will reduce emissions of fine particles and allow the introduction of more advanced engines and emission control equipment.

• An obligation should be introduced for fuel suppliers to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that their fuels cause over their life-cycle, i.e. when they are refined, transported and used. From 2011, suppliers would have to reduce emissions per unit of energy by 1% a year from 2010 levels. By 2020, this would result in a 10% emission cut.

The EU has also decided on targets for the use of renewable fuels in the Union. Directive 2003/30/EC requires each country to ensure that biofuels will have replaced 2 per cent of diesel and petrol by December 2005, and 5.75 per cent by December 2010. Exemption may be granted in cases where there is little potential for producing biofuel, or if it is already being used for other purposes.

A new target was set by the European Council in March 2007 - renewable fuels should supply 10 per cent of energy needs in the transport sector by 2020. This target was also included in the climate and energy proposal from the Commission in January 2008.

Back to top

Last modified: 27 March 2008.

Air Pollution & Climate Secretariat, Box 7005, SE-402 31 Göteborg, Sweden.
Phone. +46-31-711 45 15, Fax +46-31-711 46 20, info@airclim.org

References to Taiwan on this website refer to Taiwan, China and are in accordance with practice adopted by the IMO.