Germany’s Stuttgart set to ban some diesel cars from city centre

REUTERS: Stuttgart, home to Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and Porsche, this week said it will ban from next year diesel cars which do not meet the latest emissions standards from entering the city on days when pollution is heavy.
Only around 10 percent of diesel cars in use on German roads at the start of 2016 conformed with the “Euro 6” standard, which is the latest EU anti-pollution rule.
Engines which adhere to the 
standard produce fewer nitrogen oxide fine particle emissions, which cause respiratory disease.
Diesel emissions are in particular focus following the Volkswagen scandal involving cheating mechanisms in some of its cars which made them appear less polluting than they actually were during routine testing. Particulates often exceed thresholds set by the European Union in at least 90 German towns, including Stuttgart, which is particularly affected because it is in a valley.
Germany has already been sued by the EU for exceeding those thresholds for more than a maximum of 35 days per year.