Europe wants to be climate neutral by 2050. As one of the climate sinners par excellence, the transport sector is particularly in focus. According to the European Environment Agency, cars accounted for a quarter of continental emissions in 2019. The EU is trying to counteract this with a gradual increase in emissions standards.
With the new Euro 7 emissions standard, the EU Commission intends to introduce not only exhaust emissions but also specifications for emissions from brakes and tires. In view of the increase in electric cars, brakes and tires are "on the way to becoming the main sources of particulate emissions from vehicles," the commission said at the presentation of the new emissions standard.
Euro 7 will apply to cars, vans, trucks and buses sold in the EU. According to the Commission, the limit values for cars and vans should only be partially lower than for emission standard 6, which has been in force since 2015. The maximum emission of nitrogen oxide should therefore remain at 60 milligrams per kilometer for petrol engines, and the limit for vehicles with diesel engines drop from 80 to 60 milligrams.
The limit values for trucks and buses are to be lowered further. In addition to revising the pollutant classes for combustion engines, the commission also presented proposals for specifications for the minimum service life of batteries in electric cars.
According to the Commission, the new rules should apply to cars and vans from July 2025 and from July 2027 to trucks and buses. The EU Parliament and the Member States are now initially dealing with the proposals.
The classification into pollutant classes was introduced in order to gradually reduce car emissions. The emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides as well as fine dust are regulated, for example. Regulation began in 1992 with Euro 1, and Euro 6 has been in force since 2015. Drivers can find out the emission class of their car from the vehicle registration document.
