350 instead of 270 milligrams of nitrogen oxides per kilometer - with this plan, the German government wanted to SPIEGEL information spare many diesel drivers of driving bans and make the hardware retrofitting older diesel superfluous. However, the requests of SPIEGEL and Bayerischer Rundfunk triggered frantic activity in the factions of the Union and the SPD, who finally agreed not to change the threshold.
It had come to the conclusion that "the limit, the converted Euro 5 diesel vehicles must be met, is factually correct," said SPD Group vice Sören Bartol. The union vice-president Ulrich Lange also said that there will be no upward change.
Proposal should originally come from BMW
The federal government wants to set a law change that diesel vehicles should be exempted from driving bans when they emit less than 270 milligrams of nitrogen dioxide per kilometer in everyday life - for example, if they were retrofitted with additional catalysts. The official EU limit for Euro 5 diesel is just 180 milligrams.
At the request of SPIEGEL and Bayerischer Rundfunk, a government spokesman pointed out that the necessary amendment to the immission control law was "in the parliamentary procedure". The already higher value should be raised again to 350 milligrams.
In the video: consequences of the diesel ban
MIRROR TV
Behind it was obviously the attempt of the auto industry to bypass the retrofitting of older diesel vehicles with so-called SCR catalysts. Some manufacturers hoped to achieve this more generous limit with software updates alone. The initial intention of BMW is to approach the Federal Chancellery, but the company was not prepared to comment.