Four years on from the Dieselgate scandal - which exposed the failure to curb toxic air pollution from cars and shook confidence in EU emissions regulation - Europe is in the process of setting a new pollutant emissions standard for light and heavy duty vehicles. The future ‘post Euro-6/VI’ (informally called ‘Euro 7/VII’) norm gives the European Union the opportunity to eradicate pollution from road transport, regain technological and regulatory leadership, and align standards with its new ‘Zero Pollution Ambition’ and the objective of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Europe is currently in the middle of a global health crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the health, safety and job security of workers are rightly a priority for lawmakers. This makes the objectives of post-Euro 6/VI more important than ever. Public health experts warn that polluted ir probably makes people more susceptible to viruses and the World Health Organisation has stated that climate change will likely increase the occurrence of infectious diseases.

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