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Exemptions and dispensations

Passenger cars and vans for private use

Possibility for exemption or dispensation

In special cases, you can register an exemption or apply for a dispensation. Read about your options below.

Situations where you can register an exemption

Diesel-powered passenger cars and vans for private use can register an exemption in the following situations:

Resident in a low emission zone – only relevant for residents of the expanded area in the low emission zone of Copenhagen/Frederiksberg

You are the owner or user of a passenger car or van for private use and were resident in the expanded area of the low emission zone in Copenhagen/Frederiksberg before 1st March 2025. You can see a map of the expansion here.

It is a requirement that an open, approved particulate filter cannot be retrofitted to the vehicle.

Please, note that this exemption will be available for registration from mid-February 2025.

The exemption will be valid up until and including 28th February 2026 and covers the entire low emission zone, and not just the expanded area.

When registering this exemption, you must declare in good faith that the information provided is correct.

Hospital or medical specialist

You or a close family member are the owner or user of a passenger car or van for private use and have a medical appointment for treatment at a hospital or by a medical specialist within a low emission zone.

The exemption must be registered on www.miljoezoner.dk before the vehicle is used in a low emission zone, otherwise you risk receiving a fixed-penalty notice.

The exemption applies to the low emission zone in which the hospital or medical specialist is located. An exemption can be registered for a period of up to 14 continuous days. It is possible to register this type of exemption multiple times, if relevant.

Having a medical appointment also includes treatment courses where there is a verbal or other agreement on attendance for treatment at a hospital or by a medical specialist. When registering this exemption, you must declare in good faith that you have been called in for treatment and the information provided is correct.

Treatment can, for example, be driving to surgeries, blood tests, visits to your general practitioner and agreements at the emergency room.

If you are unsure whether your errand meets the criteria for the exemption, you can contact the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

Vehicle for the disabled

You are the owner or user of a handicap vehicle for private use or have a parking card for the disabled.

It is a requirement that an open, approved particulate filter cannot be retrofitted to the vehicle.

The exemption is valid for 48 months counting from the date of your registration.

Is your Danish vehicle not registered in the Danish Register of Motor Vehicles (DMR) with the permit "disabled vehicle", you must upload documentation that financial support has been granted for the purchase of the vehicle in accordance with section 114 of the Social Services Act.

For non-Danish handicap vehicles, documentation must be provided to confirm that the vehicle is registered as a disabled vehicle in the respective country, a copy of a parking card for the disabled, or documentation of financial support granted for the purchase of the vehicle due to the owner's or user's permanently reduced physical or mental functional capacity.

If you have a parking card for the disabled, you must enter the serial number from the front of the card and upload a photo or a copy of both the front and back of the parking card when registering the exemption.

If you use your parking card for the disabled with a different vehicle, you must register a new exemption before using the vehicle in the low emission zones. When you register a new exemption, the existing exemption associated with your parking card for the disabled will be deleted.

You must also register a new exemption if your parking card for the disabled expires.

When registering this exemption, you must declare in good faith that the information provided is correct.

Night-time work within a low emission zone

You are the owner or user of a passenger car or van for private use, which is subject to the low emission zone regulations.

It is required that an open, approved particulate filter cannot be retrofitted to the vehicle.

If you carry out night-time work within a low emission zone, you can document this with a declaration from your employer. Please, note that the declaration from your employer must not be older than six months at the time of registering the exemption.

The exemption for night-time work applies between the hours of 20:00 and 10.00.

The registration for night-time work is valid for six months, after which you must make a new registration of night-time work with a new declaration from your employer.

When registering this exemption, you must declare in good faith that the information provided is correct.

Register an exemption

See your exemption

Have you already registered an exemption?

Can you get an exemption?

If you are in one of the situations described above, your passenger car or van can get an exemption from the particulate filter requirement if:

The vehicle is subject to the low emission zone requirements.
Your passenger car is used for private purposes or you pay full or partial private usage tax for your van.
Depending on the exemption type, it may be a requirement that no approved, open particulate filter is available on the market, which can be retrofitted to the vehicle.

When you register an exemption, it is, depending on the selected exemption option, automatically examined whether an approved, open particulate filter is available for your vehicle.

If the exemption option requires that a particulate filter cannot be retrofitted, and your passenger car or van appears on the Danish Environmental Protection Agency's list of vehicles where an approved, open particulate filter is available, you must upload documentation stating otherwise. You can use the declaration below, which must be signed by a mechanic or a particulate filter fitter, and attach it to the registration. The declaration can also be used in situations where a particulate filter e.g. is in backorder and therefore cannot be retrofitted at the point of time when the declaration is signed.

It is not sufficient documentation that there is no original particulate filter according to the vehicle manufacturer.

Download declaration in Danish

How to register an exemption

Depending on the exemption option, you must register the exemption either before using the vehicle in a low emission zone or before the end of the second day after the vehicle was used in a low emission zone, otherwise you risk receiving a fixed-penalty notice.

Have the necessary information ready when you register an exemption. You can be asked to provide/upload the following:

The vehicle’s registration number
Contact information
A power of attorney, if you are not the owner nor user of the vehicle
Documentation depending on the chosen exemption option (particulate filter declaration, night-time work declaration, financial support granted for purchase of a handicap vehicle or a copy of the parking card for the disabled)

Once the registration has been completed, you will receive a receipt. The exemption takes effect immediately after you have completed the registration.

Random sample control

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency conducts sample controls of registrations and can decide that a registration of an exemption is not valid, if the conditions for the exemption have not been met.

You can read more in in statutory order nr. 1066 of 3 August 2023 on requirements for diesel-powered lorries, busses, vans and passenger cars in municipally determined low emission zones etc. section 27 and 29 (2).

Can you get a dispensation?

In special cases, it is possible for vans where private use tax is paid in full or in part to get a dispensation for a short time-limited period. To receive a dispensation, all four criteria below must be met:

an approved, open particulate filter cannot be fitted to the vehicle (requires documentation from a mechanic/particulate filter fitter)
a public activity of societal interest cannot be carried out
the vehicle cannot be replaced with another vehicle
other circumstances warrant, including that a dispensation will be of secondary importance for the environment and health.

It is not sufficient documentation that there is no original particulate filter available according to the vehicle manufacturer.

As an owner or user of a van, you can apply for dispensation from the particulate filter requirement based on expropriation. Dispensation granted on the basis of expropriation presupposes that the owner or user is atypically severely affected compared to the affected group as a whole.

The Danish Environmental Protection Agency must, upon application from the owner or user of a vehicle, grant dispensation from the particulate filter requirement if the requirement affects the applicant in such a way that fulfilling the requirement would entail expropriation.

How to apply for a dispensation

Start your application by clicking on the button below.

When you have applied for dispensation, you will receive a decision from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency. If you use your vehicle in a low emission zone while your application is being processed, you risk receiving a fixed-penalty notice.

Apply

You will receive a decision from the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in your digital mailbox. In case you do not have Digital Post or are exempt, the decision will be sent per paper post. It may take up to three months for the case to be processed, but the Danish Environmental Protection Agency will strive to process your application as soon as possible.