Frankfurt must ban old diesel cars, court rules

The western German city of Frankfurt must introduce a ban on older diesel vehicles as part of a plan to improve air quality, the Federal Administrative Court ruled, reports news agency Reuters. The country’s financial centre must from February 2019 ban diesel cars that meet Euro-4 and older emission standards, and petrol cars that meet Euro-1 and 2 standards, while Euro-5 diesels must be banned from September that year. “The driving ban is necessary because all other measures considered by the state will not lead to a significant reduction of nitrogen dioxide emissions in an appropriate time,” said presiding judge Rolf Hartmann. The decision by the court in Wiesbaden on a case brought by environmental group Environmental Action Germany (DUH) came after a landmark ruling by Germany’ top administrative court in February opened the door to inner-city bans.

Read the article in English here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Diesel driving bans in Germany – The Q&A.