Cutting car emissions: Euro 5 standards

The European Parliament Environment Committee voted on 13 September 2006 in favour of revising the current emission limits for motor vehicles (the Euro 4 standards, which have applied since 1 January 2005), including ozone precursors such as nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons as well as particles emitted by diesel engines. The new standards (known as Euro 5) will apply from 1 September 2009. The new legislation also requires information on vehicle repairs to be easily available to independent repairers.