If you are going to travel to Germany and intend to enter Berlin or any other big city, you will need an eco-vignette. Soon, the vignette will also apply in the Czech capital.
People traveling around Europe, even sporadically, usually came across the information that there is a green zone in Berlin, which can only be entered by cars that meet certain exhaust emission standards. Legal entry requires a valid vignette, i.e. a sticker stuck on the windshield of the car.
However, not everyone knows that the vignette is already valid in over 50 German cities. So if you intend to drive through the center of a large city or agglomeration in Germany, you can almost be sure that you will face the obligation to have a vignette.
What vignette in Germany?
In the case of cars with gasoline engines, the matter is quite simple. All cars manufactured on or after 01.01.1993 should have a green vignette marked with number 4. Older gasoline cars are strictly forbidden to enter the environmental zones in Germany.
The situation of diesel car users is more complicated. Cars manufactured before 1997 will not get any badge at all. Passenger cars manufactured between 1997 and 2000, meeting the Euro 2 emission standard (or Euro 1 + filter) may be marked with a red badge , but at present it no longer entitles you to enter any green zone.
Only the yellow vignette allows it, but only in selected cities. Currently, a foreigner with a yellow badge can enter, for example, the center of Berlin, but in the case of German capitals, probably only until the end of 2014! The yellow sticker applies to passenger cars manufactured between 2001 and 2005, and possibly also others that meet the Euro 3 emission standard (or Euro 2 + filter).
In the case of cars with diesel engines, only cars produced in 2006 or later can enter the environmental zones without restrictions, as long as they have a green vignette . This right can also be granted to older vehicles if they meet the Euro 4 or Euro 5 emission standards. In this case, you must present the relevant documents before purchasing the vignette.
It is worth noting that in the case of commercial vehicles with a permissible total weight exceeding 3.5 tons, these rules are slightly different, e.g. the green badge can generally be used by owners of cars manufactured on or before October 1, 2006.
The vignette is assigned to a specific vehicle (the registration number of the vehicle is entered on the sticker) and can be used indefinitely throughout Germany. In Germany, the green badge costs 6 euros and can be ordered online: https://www.berlin.de/labo/kfz/dienstleistungen/feinstaubplakette.shop.en.php . If we buy it from an intermediary (and many companies, also in Poland, deal with the sale), the price may exceed PLN 100.
Prague like Berlin
As recently announced on its website "Auto Świat", vignettes are soon to apply also in Czech Prague. Restrictions are likely to be introduced on January 1, 2016 .
In the first stage of the project implementation, the restrictions will apply to 12 percent. Prague area. The cost of the badge will be CZK 80 (approximately PLN 12). Initially, Euro 3 compliant cars (petrol cars from 1999 and diesel cars from 2001) will be allowed to enter the center of the Czech capital.
Interestingly, the Czechs are in talks with Germany so that the badges issued in one of these countries also apply in the other. Thanks to this, it should be cheaper, and one sticker on the glass less.
Sometimes it is better to get lost than to ask for directions too much. Aldous Huxley
