European Directives

Europe has set several environmental emissions requirements for the vehicle fleet to incentivize manufacturers to produce greener cars. These mitigation measures fall within the objectives of the European Green Deal to reach climate neutrality for Europe by 2050.

Cars must meet strict environmental limitations. The most important requirements in terms of emission regulation are the so-called 'Euro standards'. These European  ​norms ​set up a limit for NOx, HC, CO, and PM emissions. Influenced by these standards, cars have been getting cleaner and cleaner in recent years. 

Since the first Euro standard in 1992, Euro 1, emissions of these pollutants were reduced by more than 80%. The standards are getting stricter over time. To date, every new car sold in Europe must meet the Euro 6 standard. As of 2025, it will be the Euro 7 standard (under development). The tables below show the limits per pollutant.

Table 1: Euro norm overview for passenger cars

All emissions in g/km, except PN (number of particles per km).

(#) This date applies to all new type approvals. All new vehicles have to comply one year later. Only Euro 5 (a and b) came into force one year and 4 months later for all new vehicles. A second exception is PN for Euro 6 petrol, which is to come into force from 1/09/2017 for new type approvals and from 1/09/2018 for all new vehicles. In the meantime, this standard (Euro 6 petrol) is eased to 6x1012 particles/km.

(*) only for direct injection (DI) petrol engines.

 

Table 2: Euro norm overview for Light Commercial Vehicle

All emissions in g/km, except PN (number of particles per km).

(°)- Euro 1 and 2 reference mass classes: I: <1250 kg, II: 1250-1700, III: >1700 kg

     - Euro 3 till 6 reference mass classes: I: <1350 kg, II: 1350-1760 kg; III: >1760 kg

(#) This date applies to all new type approvals. All new vehicles have to comply one year later. Only Euro 5 (a and b) came into force one year and 4 months later for all new vehicles. A second exception is PN for Euro 6 petrol, which is to come into force from 1/09/2017 for new type approvals and from 1/09/2018 for all new vehicles. In the meantime, this standard (Euro 6 petrol) is eased to 6x1012 particles/km. 

(*) only for direct injection (DI) petrol engines.

As of 2017, RDE testing [LD3] has to be combined with laboratory measurements to monitor the gap between homologation tests and real-driving emissions. This practice has been phased in within the Euro 6 standard, separated into sub-standards. To do so, conformity factors (CF) for NOx and PN have been gradually set. During the RDE test, the emissions from the vehicles must not exceed the value of the Euro 6 emissions limit multiplied by the corresponding CF. The first label where RDE testing was enforced was the EURO6d-TEMP label. Since then, Euro 6d has been implemented for cars and light-duty vehicles.

As of September 2017, type-approval vehicles' models must meet the EURO6d-TEMP standard, including a temporary conformity factor (CF). Since September 2019, it has been extended to all new vehicles registrations. Until 2021, all new vehicle registrations had to comply with the following label called EURO 6d, which includes the latest defined CF. These values are under review to be reduced further. For both labels, CO emissions have also to be measured and reported.

 

Reference and useful link:

Emissions Standards explanation: Emission Standards: Europe: Cars and Light Trucks (dieselnet.com)

The Association of European Vehicle Logistics (2019), WLTP, RDE and automotive emissions targets.

Europe aims at reaching climate neutrality by 2050. For transport, it means a reduction of greenhouse house emissions of 90% from the transport sector.

In that context, for Europe, the regulation currently enforced is the Regulation (EU) 2019/631. It sets average emission targets for the cars and vans' EU fleet. Until 2019, the average CO2 emissions for cars were 130 g/km and have been reduced to 95 g/km since 2020. During 2020, only the 95% least emitting new cars and their NEDC values were included. From 2021 onward, only WLTP measures of CO2 and all new vehicles are taken into account. For vans, the target is 147 g/km. 

 

The measure also establishes emissions goals up until 2030:

Figure 1: Overview of the targets set by the European Commission

Since 2020 and until 2022, a super-credit system is applied to incentivize the adoption of zero and low emissions cars based on the targets set. It counts multiple times passenger cars with emissions of less than 50 g/km (NEDC) when calculating the average emissions of the EU fleet-wide of a manufacturer. However, the credit is capped at 7.5g/km per manufacturer in the 3 years. The factors are reduced over time:

This incentive mechanism will include vans manufacturer from 2025 and will be updated. It will authorize the increase of x% point exceedance of the specific emission target for a car manufacturer if its share of new zero and low emissions vehicle (under 50 gCO2/km) also exceeds by the same x% point the values below. It is capped at 5%.

Reference and useful link:

European Green Deal: Transport and the Green Deal | European Commission (europa.eu)

Regulation (EU) 2019/631: CL2019R0631EN0040010.0001_cp 1..1 (europa.eu)

CO2 emissions targets from the European Commission: CO₂ emission performance standards for cars and vans (europa.eu)

Specific Euro standards also exist for heavy-duty vehicles. You can find them on the Dieselnet website.

Specific EU targets also exist for HDV. You can find them here: Reducing CO₂ emissions from heavy-duty vehicles (europa.eu)

The revised Clean Vehicles Directivewas adopted in 2019 by the European Parliament and Council. It aims to enhance the deployment of zero and low emissions vehicles and promote sustainable mobility. It sets requirements for a vehicle to be defined as clean. For light-duty vehicles and until 2025, it represents vehicles with emissions that do not exceed 50 g/km and 80% of RDE limits for NOx and PN. As of 2026, it will consist of only zero-emission vehicles.

Previously, the Directive provided a methodology based on life-cycle costing that grants a score for vehicles, such as the ecoscore. The score is a monetary value over the vehicle's lifetime and should help with the sustainable procurement of vehicles. In Belgium, the Ecoscore has been preferred to this method. 

Using this Clean Vehicle methodology, fuel-efficient vehicles emitting low levels of CO2 are favored strongly. The emissions of CO2, which are linked to the energy consumption, have a very strong weight in the final score, while the emissions with impact on air quality only have a limited influence.This gives a benefit primarily to diesel cars. Using a particulate filter in these cars is discouraged because the fuel consumption increases slightly, and the lower PM emissions hardly impact the overall score. More details can be found in this report. Since the CVD method was rarely used and other tailored methods were preferred like in Belgium, the new Directive does not impose a particular method.

Reference and useful link:

Sergeant et al. (2011), CLEAN VEHICLES EUROPE versus ECOSCORE Analysis and comparison of website and methodology.