The European Union Council of Ministers (environment) has approved the expansion of the European directive setting emission limits for vehicles undertaking cold starts, to include certain classes of light commercial vehicles and domestic vans that have previously been exempt from the law.
Brussels agreed that new types of light commercial vehicles, (category N1) of weight class II, (greater than 1305 kg and up to and including 1760 kg) and weight class III, (greater than 1760 kg), should be covered.
And ministers also approved the inclusion of new types of passenger cars, (category M1), designed to carry more than six occupants, and passenger cars with a maximum mass greater than 2500 kg, which had not previously been affected by the limits.
Said a Council of Ministers statement: “High amounts of polluting exhaust gases are produced by motor vehicles during warming up. Existing legislation accordingly limits the tailpipe emissions from most types of vehicle during the warm-up phase.”
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