Which sticker does a Euro 5 diesel get?

The green one, Schadstoffgruppe 4. It is the only badge that admits a vehicle to a German Umweltzone today, and diesel qualifies for it from Euro 4 upward, or Euro 3 with a particulate filter.

What does the Plakette cost and where does it come from?

EUR 5 over the counter at Berlin's vehicle registration authority, or EUR 6 ordered online with postage. It is issued against the registration document, stays with the vehicle for life and works in every German Umweltzone.

How large is the Berlin zone?

About 88 square kilometres inside the S-Bahn ring, roughly a tenth of the city, with more than a million residents inside it. The southern city motorway and its slip roads and the Elsenbruecke are excluded; Kanzowstrasse in Prenzlauer Berg is inside although it lies outside the ring.

Is the fine per entry?

It is a flat EUR 100 for driving or parking inside the zone without a valid sticker. The Flensburg penalty point that used to accompany it was abolished in 2014.

Does a foreign-registered car need the sticker too?

Yes. There is no exemption for foreign plates, and the badge can be ordered to a home address before travelling. Only electric and hydrogen vehicles, H-plate historics, emergency and military vehicles are exempt.

Berlin 2026: Euro 5 Diesel Earns the Green Plakette

Checked against official sources 19 Sep 2026 · Next review 2026-12-18

A 2018 diesel at Euro 5 qualifies for Berlin’s green Plakette, the only badge that opens the Umweltzone. Qualifying is not the same as being legal: the sticker costs EUR 5 at the counter, EUR 6 by post, and without it on the glass the charge is a flat EUR 100.

Can your car enter Berlin?

Enter your vehicle's fuel + Euro class → instant verdict for Berlin (Umweltzone). Fine if wrong: EUR 100.

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Eligibility and permission are two different tests

Berlin has required the green Plakette (Schadstoffgruppe 4) inside the zone since 1 January 2010, and the Senate describes the restriction as permanent, without time limits. Diesel earns that badge from Euro 4, or from Euro 3 with a particulate filter; petrol earns it with a regulated catalytic converter. A Euro 5 diesel is therefore eligible with a class in hand — but eligibility alone has never been a defence at the kerb. The badge has to be bought and displayed.

Where the boundary runs

The zone is the 88 km² inside the S-Bahn ring — about a tenth of Berlin’s area, home to over a million of its 3.7 million residents. Two exclusions matter to drivers passing through: the southern city motorway with its slip roads and the Elsenbrücke are outside the zone. One inclusion catches people out: Kanzowstraße in Prenzlauer Berg is inside it despite lying beyond the ring.

Buying the badge


At Berlin’s vehicle registration authority	EUR 5
Ordered online, with postage	EUR 6
Valid for	The life of the vehicle, in every German Umweltzone
Needed from	The registration document (Fahrzeugschein)

Order it before leaving home if the car is foreign-registered; the badge is issued against the vehicle papers rather than the driver.

How it is actually checked

Not by a camera reading your emission class. The Plakette is a visual check — police at the roadside and parking control on foot — and the EUR 100 applies to a parked car inside the zone just as it does to a moving one. The penalty point that once came with it was abolished in 2014.

Berlin checklist for this car

✅ Confirm Euro 5 on the certificate of conformity rather than assuming it from the 2018 plate
✅ Order the green Plakette in advance: EUR 5 in person, EUR 6 posted
✅ Fix it to the windscreen — an eligible car without the badge is still fined
✅ Remember the fine reaches parked cars, which is how most visitors collect it
✅ Check exemptions only if the car is electric, hydrogen, H-plate historic, emergency or military