The European emission standards are vehicle emission standards for

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...

from the use of new land surface vehicles sold in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and EEA member states and the UK, and ships in EU waters. The standards are defined in a series of

European Union directive A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires member states to achieve a particular result without dictating the means of achieving that result. Directives first have to be enacted into national law by member states before the ...

s staging the progressive introduction of increasingly stringent standards. , the standards do not include

non-exhaust emissions Non-exhaust emissions come from wearing down motor vehicle brake pads, tires, roads themselves, and unsettling of particles on the road. This particulate matter is made up of micrometre-sized particles and causes negative health effects, includi ...

such as

particulates Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The ...

from tyres and brakes. Details of Euro 7 have been postponed to 12 October 2022.

Background

In the European Union, emissions of nitrogen oxides (), total hydrocarbon (THC),

non-methane hydrocarbons Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are organic compounds that have a high vapour pressure at room temperature. High vapor pressure correlates with a low boiling point, which relates to the number of the sample's molecules in the surrounding air, a t ...

(NMHC),