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.
Fifteen 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 trucks and coaches from 1 January 2022
From 1 january 2022 there will be only purple zones for diesel-powered trucks and coaches. Only diesel trucks and coaches with emissions standard 6are allowed to drive into the purple zones.
Rules for passenger cars and vans
Diesel passenger cars and vans with an emissions standard of 3 or higher are allowed in the yellow zone. Diesel passenger cars and vans with an emissions standard of 4 or higher are allowed in the green zone.
Your diesel vehicle’s emissions standard determines whether you are allowed to drive in a yellow, green 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.
To find out more
Visit the Urban Access Regulations in Europe website https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/