Landmark ruling may ban diesel in Germany, Europe
A landmark ruling from Germany’s Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig, which upheld the diesel bans in the cities of Stuttgart and Düsseldorf, could set a precedent for other German cities and across Europe, reports the BBC.
The historic decision reaffirms Stuttgart and Dusseldorf’s authority to prohibit older and more polluting diesel cars from areas hardly hit by air pollution.
The court’s decision on the ban, however, is a clarification of a law rather than an imposition, said the Germany's Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, while Chancellor Angela Merkel said that it concerns only specific cities.
New diesel cars will not be affected either, said the BBC report.
The decision could still push the German government to introduce a coherent national policy regarding diesel vehicle regulations, not to mention that the country is home to world’s car manufacturing companies.
The case was originally brought by the environmental groups Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) and ClientEarth.
DUH argued that about 70 German cities exceeded European Union limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), caused by diesel emissions, last year.
