On this page you can find out about low-emission zones in the Netherlands and how they affect foreign vehicles here.
There are low-emission zones in some Dutch city centres. Municipalities create these zones to improve air quality in their cities. The rules for low-emission zones also apply to foreign vehicles.
Twelve Dutch municipalities have low-emission zones. The low-emission zone rules usually only apply to trucks and coaches, and sometimes also to diesel-powered passenger cars and vans. Road signs show which vehicles are affected by the low-emission zone.
New rules for passenger cars and vans from 1 January 2025
From 1 january 2025 there are green en blue zones for diesel-powered passenger cars and vans. Diesel passenger cars and vans with emissions standard 4 are allowed to drive into the green zones. Diesel passenger cars and vans with emissions standard 5 are allowed to drive into the blue zones.
Rules for trucks and coaches
Onlydiesel trucks and coaches with emissions standard 6 are allowed to drive into the purple zones.
Your diesel vehicle’s emissions standard determines whether you are allowed to drive in a green, blue or purple low-emission zone. The emissions standard is a rating that indicates how low your diesel vehicle’s emissions are. The higher the rating, the lower the emissions. The emissions standard corresponds to your vehicle’s Euro emissions standard. If you don’t know your vehicle’s Euro emissions standard, you can find it in the tables based on the date when the vehicle was first registered.
Vehicles using a fuel other than diesel are allowed in all low-emission zones.
If you are going to be driving in a municipality that has a low-emission zone, there is no need to register in advance. You are only required to register in advance if you will be entering the Maasvlakte industrial area. See the website.
Check the municipality’s website before you set off to find out what sort of low-emission zone is in operation in the municipality and which vehicles are subject to this zone. The Milieuzones in Nederland (Low-Emission Zones in the Netherlands) web page includes a map showing all the Dutch municipalities with low-emission zones. However, this page is only available in Dutch.
New Zero-emission zones for trucks and vans from 1 January 2025
From 1 January 2025 there are fourteen Dutch cities which have introduced zero-emission zones in their city centres. These zero-emission zones apply to trucks and vans.
To find out more
Visit the Urban Access Regulations in Europe website https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/
Visit the OpwegnaarZes website Home - Op weg naar ZES for information on the zero-emission zones.