An extra tax on the sale of new, heavily-polluting diesel-powered vehicles breaks European rules and must be withdrawn, the appeal court in The Hague ruled on Wednesday.

Under EU guidelines, manufacturers have until September 2009 to make sure their cars, vans and lorries have proper filters and meet new rules on pollution. The Netherlands was a party to those discussions.
Nevertheless, the Dutch government went it alone and introduced the new tax in April. The aim is to stimulate the sale of more environment-friendly diesel cars with filters to remove soot from exhaust fumes.
The government was taken to court over the early introduction of the tax by the RAI and Bovag motoring organisations. Bovag, which represents garage owners, said it is ‘unfair on principle that the Netherlands introduces faster emission standards on its own’.
Bovag argued that the Dutch norm has made it impossible to sell a number of new models even though they meet current standards.
The finance ministry said it is disappointed in the ruling and is considering its options.
A lower court in The Hague ruled against the car lobby groups earlier this year.