Plans by the cabinet to reduce air pollution created by cars will only have a very limited effect, according to the Dutch environmental assessment agency PBL.

Ministers and several opposition parties agreed to increase the tax (bpm) on more polluting vehicles and to scrap plans to reduce the road tax on cars this year. The measures are aimed at raising €450m for the treasury.

The PBL says while the measures may indeed increase tax revenues, their impact on air pollution and carbon-dioxide emissions will be negligible.

This is because neither measure is likely to have much impact on car usage or the type of car bought, the report states.

The PBL does not comment on other plans to increase the tax on tap water and on the use of community waste dumps because those plans have not yet been worked out sufficiently.

They are aimed at raising €205m and €20m a year.