Germany clears the way for local driving bans

Germany's Bundesrat, or upper house of parliament, has given final approval to a draft law which, from next year, will progressively require all cars and lorries to be labelled according to their emissions of fine particles (PM10). The measure will enable municipalities to ban more polluting diesel vehicles from city centres during high pollution episodes.

Under the law all petrol-engined vehicles - which produce very little PM10 - and diesel vehicles meeting the latest, Euro 4, emission standards, will carry a green label. Diesel vehicles complying with Euro 2 or 3 emission standards will carry a white label. And diesels complying only with the oldest Euro 1 standard will not carry a label at all.