New Rules for Driving Through “Low Emission Zones” (LEZs) in Popular European Cities

Regions:

• Antwerp
• Brussels
• Ghent
• Wallonia Region

Environmental sticker/badge:

• Low Emission Zone
• No sticker required – each vehicle requires a valid registration and purchase of a LEZ Day Pass or to pay admission fee if not eligible for Day Pass

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

Brussels

• Vehicles affected: Cars, campers (M1), bus (M2, M3), vans (N1), trucks
• Minimum standard required (from 1st January 2022):
• petrol: Euro 2
• diesel: Euro 5

Antwerp Admission Fee

• Diesel vehicles with Euro 4 standard

Antwerp LEZ Day Pass

• Diesel vehicles with Euro 3 standard and less
• Petrol vehicles with Euro 1 standard and less

Ghent LEZ Day Pass:

• Diesel vehicles with Euro 4

Ghent Temporary Permit

• 3 standard or less

Exempt from sticker/badge:

• Motorised two-wheelers
• Lorries > 3.5t delivering goods
• Agricultural and forestry tractors
• Electric vehicles
• Hydrogen-powered vehicles
• Priority vehicles (namely vehicles with one or more blue flashing lights and a specific alarm signal. Police vehicles, for example.)
• Emergency vehicles (police, army, civil protection or road authorities)
• Army vehicles
• Historic vehicles registered in Belgium

Hours of operation:

•  Permanent – 24 hours a day 

Validity of sticker:

Registration

• Brussels: 3 years provided vehicle information doesn’t change
• Antwerp: 3 years
• Ghent: N/A

LEZ Day Pass

• For one full day until 6am next morning

Antwerp:

• Depends on chosen period – day, week, month or year

Ghent Temporary Permit:

• Depends on chosen period – day, week, month or year

Cost:

• Registration for all cities: free

Antwerp Admission Fee

(for diesel vehicles with Euro 4 standard)

Reduced rate: €20/£17 – €180/£154 (dependant on time period)

Regular rate: €30/£25 – €365/£312 (dependant on time period)

Increased rate: €30/£25 – €440/£376 (dependant on time period)

Ghent (regular tariff for Temporary Permit)

Week: €25/£21

Month: €50/£43

4 Months: €130/£111

Year: €365/£312

LEZ Day Pass

LEZ Day Pass for €35/£30 can be bought, up to 8 times a year by diesel vehicles with Euro 3 standard and less, petrol vehicles with Euro 1 standard and less

Application process length:

Antwerp

Can be purchased up to 4 months in advance but allow up to 10 days

Ghent

Can be purchased up to 4 months in advance but allow up to 14 days

Fine:

Antwerp (since 1 February 2018)

For the first time: €150/£128

The second time: €250/£213

Further offences within 12 months: €350/£299

Brussels

€150/£128

€25/£21 fine for admission error on form

Ghent

€150/£128

Paperwork required:

Antwerp

Registration certificate

Brussels

Licence plate number

Date of first registration

Ghent

Registration document

European Certificate of Conformity

Bank card (If you make an appointment bring your supporting documents and a bank card with you. Cash payments result in additional waiting time. Cheques are not accepted.) 

Regions:

• Paris and major French cities including
• Aix-Marseille-Provence
• Greater Grenoble
• Greater Lyon
• Greater Nancy
• Greater Paris
• Greater Saint-Etienne
• Lille
• Lyon
• Montpellier Mediterranee Metropole
• Nice
• Paris
• Reims
• Rouen
• Strasbourg
• Toulouse

Environmental sticker/badge:

• Crit’Air vignettes
• Six types of stickers distinguished by colour including:
• Green – Crit’Air E (zero emissions – electric and hydrogen vehicles)
• Purple – Crit’Air 1 (gas and rechargeable hybrid vehicles)
• Yellow – Crit’Air 2 (Euro 5 and Euro 6 vehicles)
• Orange – Crit’Air 3 (Euro 4 vehicles)
• Burgundy – Crit’Air 4 (Euro 3 vehicles)
• Dark Grey – Crit’Air 5 (Euro 2 vehicles)
• All polluting vehicles pre-2017 are prohibited from entering targeted areas during peak hours

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

• Applies to all foreign passenger cars and trucks
• When d riving in Permanent low-emission zones (known as ZCR – Zone à Circulation Restreinte) and Temporary emergency low-emissions zones (known as ZPA – Zone de la Protection de l’Air)

Exempt from sticker/badge:

• Mandatory, even for vehicles and purposes that are exempt from the restrictions applicable in restricted traffic zones or introduced on a temporary basis.

Hours of operation:

• Monday – Friday from 8am – 8pm

Validity of sticker:

• Lifetime validity – as long as its eligible

Cost:

• €3.11/£2.65 + €1.40/£1.20 postage outside France (i.e. €4.51/£3.85 per vehicle) –

Application process length:

• 10 days – Up to six weeks

Fine:

• €68/£58 for light vehicles and increased to €180/£154 if not paid within 45 days
• €135/£115 for heavy goods vehicles and increased to €375/£320 if not paid within 45 days

Paperwork required:

• Legible photo or scan of your vehicle’s registration certificate.

Regions:

• National including cities such as Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hannover, Bonn, Karlsruhe, Leipzig
• Some cities also have a zonal driving ban requiring require a minimum standard of diesel Euro 6 to enter

Environmental sticker/badge:

• Umweltplakette
• Four colour-coded emission categories:
• green sticker (harmful emission group 4)
• yellow (harmful emission group 3)
• red stickers (harmful emission group 2)

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

• Applies to all passenger motor vehicles and commercial vehicles irrespective of propulsion (with combustion engines – petrol, diesel or gas – and with electric motors)
• Ban on diesel cars in several German cities including Berlin, Darmstadt, Hamburg and Stuttgart since 20-19

Exempt from sticker/badge:

• Mobile machines and devices
• 2- and 3-wheel vehicles (e.g. mopeds, motorbikes, scooters)
• Agricultural and forestry traction machines (such as tractors)
• Vehicles driven by persons or transporting persons that are severely handicapped, helpless or blind (evidenced by aG, H or BI entered in the severely handicapped ID)
• Veteran cars with 07 registration plates, as well as foreign vehicles that fulfil the comparable requirements (generally this is any vehicle over 30 years old)

Hours of operation:

• Permanent, 24 hours a day

Validity of sticker:

• Valid foras long as the number plate or the emission standard remain unchanged

Cost:

• €6/£5

Application process length:

• Home-delivery within 7 – 14 days

Fine:

• €80/£68 plus administrative fee which varies from city to city

Paperwork required:

• Part 1 of your vehicle registration certification

Regions:

• Centre of Milan (combined Congestion Charge and Low Emission Zone)
• Many city centres across Italy operate traffic restriction zones – Zone a Traffico Limitato (ZTL)

Environmental sticker/badge:

Milan

Eco-Pass for Centre of Milan

Rome

All vehicles except electric

Some city centres

Vignette for some city centres

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

Milan

Petrol: Euro 3

Diesel: Euro 6

Palermo

All vehicles except motorbikes, electric vehicles

Exempt from sticker/badge:

Mopeds/motorcycles, electric vehicles, hybrids

Exempt from the rules in some municipalities if you are transporting pasta or flour

Hours of operation:

Milan

Weekdays between 7:30am – 7:30pm

Palermo

8am – 8pm

Bologna

7am – 8pm

Validity of sticker:

Milan

24 hours

Cost:

Milan

€5/£4 paid in advance or €15/£13 if paid within seven days

Application process length:

N/A

Fine:

Milan

€70/£60 – €450/£385

Rome

€70/£60, plus an additional €70/£60 if there was no valid annual emissions test sticker

Palermo

A vehicle of Euro 0, 1, 2 that enters the ZTL without a permit will have to pay €164/140.
Vehicles Euro 3 and above entering the ZTL without a proper permit will have to pay €81/69.

Paperwork required:

N/A

Regions:

Lisbon

Environmental sticker/badge:

No sticker required – drivers must follow rules

Zona de Emissoes Reduzidas (ZER) in place divided into Zone 1 and Zone 2

Zone 1: Axis Av. Liberdade/Baixa.
Zone 2: limited to the south of Avenida de Ceuta, North-South axis, Avenida das Forças Armadas, Avenida EUA, Avenida Marechal António Spínola, Avenida Infante Dom Henrique

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

All vehicles not meeting the Euro 3 standard in Zone 1 or not meeting the Euro 2 standard in Zone 2

Vehicles over 7.5 tonnes

Exempt from sticker/badge:

N/a

Hours of operation:

Working days from 07:00 – 21.00

Validity of sticker:

n/a

Cost:

n/a

Application process length:

N/A

Fine:

£120

Paperwork required:

N/A

Regions:

Madrid

Barcelona 

Sant Cugat (in Barcelona)

Seville

Valladolid

Valencia

Environmental sticker/badge:

Madrid

Low Emission Zone called Zona de Bajas Emisiones(ZBE)

4 environmental badges (0 Emissions, Eco, C and B)

Barcelona

Low Emission Zone called Barcelona Zona de Bajas Emisiones (ZBE) – DGT (Distintivo Ambiental) is required

Cities with more than 50,000 inhabitants must introduce a low emission zone before 2023

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

Madrid

Cars

Barcelona

Foreign vehicles must register for DGT environmental badge

Exempt from sticker/badge:

Madrid

Foreign registered vehicles are not obliged to exhibit the badge

Transport of disabled
– trucks, vans, motorcycles, mopeds

Historic 

vehicles

Emergency vehicles

Classified as A vehicles (usually gasoline registered before the year 2000 and diesel vehicles before 2006)

Barcelona

People with reduced mobility

Service vehicles (ambulances, police, firefighters, hearses, military)

Hours of operation:

Madrid

N/A

Barcelona

From Monday to Friday between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm

Validity of sticker:

Madrid

N/A

Barcelona

Two years

Cost:

Madrid

N/A

Barcelona:

€7/£6 one-off registration fee if vehicle complies for DGT

€5/£4 – €6/£5 per day dependant on vehicle

Application process length:

Madrid

N/A

Barcelona

15 business days after submission

Fine:

Madrid

€45/£38 if paid right away

€90/£77 if paid later

Barcelona

Between €200/£171 and €1800/£1540

Paperwork required:

N/A

Regions:

City of Geneva and the surrounding towns of Carouge, Cologny, Lancy and Vernier.

Environmental sticker/badge:

Stick’AIR stickers, or vignettes

Six difference emissions-based categories:

1. Green
2. Purple
3. Yellow
4. Orange
5. Burgundy
6. Grey

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

All motor vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes in weight are required to have a vignette all year round on all motorways and national roads of class 1 and 2

Exempt from sticker/badge:

Cars with the French Crit’AIR sticker

Disabled drivers and vehicles displaying blue badges 

Hours of operation:

Monday to Sunday between 6am and 10pm.

Validity of sticker:

n/a

Cost:

5 Swiss Francs/£4

Application process length:

n/a

Fine:

€455/£389

Paperwork required:

N/A

Regions:

• Aberdeen
• Bath
• Birmingham
• Bradford
• Brighton
• Bristol
• Dundee
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Greater Manchester
• Leeds
• Leicester
• London
• Newcastle
• Norwich
• Nottingham
• Oxford
• Portsmouth
• Sheffield
• York

Environmental sticker/badge:

London

Low Emission Zone

Ultra Low Emission Zone

Congestion Charge

All cities

No sticker required – drivers must follow rules

Required to purchase sticker/badge:

ULEZ in London

Motorbikes, mopeds, motorised tricycles and quadricycles not meeting the minimum standard Euro 3

Euro 4 for petrol cars, vans, minibuses and other specialist not meeting the minimum standard Euro 4

diesel cars, vans and minibuses and other specialist vehicles not meeting the minimum standard Euro 6

lorries, buses and coaches and other specialist heavy vehicles not meeting the minimum standard Euro VI

Exempt from sticker/badge:

ULEZ in London

Residents

Cleaner Vehicle Discount

Vehicles for disabled people

Taxis

Private Hire Vehicles

Historic vehicles built more than 40 years ago

Agricultural vehicles

Military vehicles

Non-road going vehicles which are allowed to drive on the highway (for example, excavators)

Certain types of mobile cranes

Hours of operation:

ULEZ in London

24 hours per day

Validity of sticker:

ULEZ in London

24 hours

Cost:

ULEZ in London

£12.50 daily fee

Application process length:

ULEZ in London

Immediate 

Fine:

ULEZ in London

£60 – £1000 dependant on vehicle

£80 – £500 if paid within 14 days and dependant on vehicle 

Paperwork required:

Must register with Transport for London to pay daily fee