European city halls spent 2025 redrawing the rulebook for urban freight. The biggest shift came on 1 January, when a wave of zero-emission delivery zones began phasing in across the Netherlands, creating large areas where only battery-electric or hydrogen vans and trucks can enter for deliveries. The new access rules land amid still-modest electrification of commercial fleets, forcing logistics planners to rethink fleet mix, routing, and where to stage last-mile operations.
What changed on 1 January 2025
Since 1 January 2025, Dutch municipalities have been empowered to designate urban areas where polluting delivery vans and trucks are barred – with entry permitted only to zero-emission vehicles. The national business portal confirms that ZEZs were established in 15 cities as of that date, with more municipalities scheduled to follow by 2030. Access depends on a vehicle’s emission class: all new company vans and trucks first registered from 1 January 2025 may enter only if they are zero-emission, while older diesels face strict limits and bans.
The rules are not identical everywhere, but city pages illustrate the scope. Amsterdam’s ZEZ for vans and lorries covers the area within the S100 inner ring; the city applies transitional arrangements for legacy vehicles as it tightens access through the decade. Utrecht confirms a ZEZ from 1 January 2025 and notes a 2025-2030 transition period for operators to adapt.
The Dutch framework also spells out national grace periods that many fleets will rely on for near-term continuity: Euro 5 vans are allowed until 1 January 2027 and Euro 6 vans until 1 January 2028; younger Euro 6 trucks can be granted access up to 1 January 2030, depending on vehicle type and age. Authorities additionally point operators toward “city hubs” on the edge of zones to trans-load freight into zero-emission vehicles for the final leg.
Beyond the Netherlands: 2025 tightenings to watch
Copenhagen advanced a two-track approach in 2025: a goods-delivery ZEZ that bans fossil-fuel trucks in designated areas, alongside a broader low-emission zone that the city expanded to the municipal border on 1 March 2025. Together, these moves squeeze conventional last-mile access while ring-fencing space for zero-emission operations.
France does not yet run city-scale ZEZ for freight, but 2025 brought another crank-turn on diesel use. Paris and Lyon remain subject to reinforced low-emission zone obligations, with progressively stricter Crit’Air access rules that curtail older vehicles on most weekdays – a policy trajectory that narrows the window for diesel vans to serve dense cores.
What this means for road freight and last-mile logistics
Fleet electrification is rising but uneven. In the first half of 2025, electrically-chargeable vans captured 9.5% of EU van registrations – up from 5.8% a year earlier – while electrically-chargeable trucks reached 3.6% of new EU truck sales. Diesel still dominates both segments, underscoring why access rules are now a major driver of purchasing and deployment decisions.
For dispatchers, the operational playbook is shifting in three visible ways. First, more depots and cross-docks are being positioned just outside restricted areas, with final delivery executed by ZE vans or cargo solutions based within the zone – an approach national guidance explicitly encourages via “city hubs.” Second, route plans are being re-sequenced to respect zone boundaries and delivery windows, particularly where multiple municipalities run adjacent or overlapping restrictions. Third, transitional allowances must be managed vehicle-by-vehicle to avoid costly access violations during the 2025-2030 glide path.
Charging, refuelling and the 2025 infrastructure milestones
Access rules only work if fleets can recharge. The EU’s Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation set binding targets that start to bite from 2025: member states must begin meeting minimum fast-charging capacities on the TEN-T core corridors this year, with specific 2025 and 2027 milestones ramping toward full heavy-duty coverage by 2030. Policy briefs summarise the core-network requirement – including 400 kW total site power for car/van pools by end-2025 – and the staged rollout of dedicated heavy-duty charging every 60-100 km, with at least 15% coverage kicking in at the end of 2025 and rising sharply by 2027. These provisions are designed to de-risk regional and national runs that feed zero-emission city deliveries.
For operators serving Dutch ZEZs, depot charging remains pivotal. National programmes are in place to accelerate installation on premises or at public hubs – a lever many SMEs will need to pull as larger shippers push tighter emissions clauses into contracts.
Warehousing and network design implications
ZEZ boundaries are reshaping the urban edge. With inner-city access constrained for legacy vehicles, freight is increasingly consolidated at near-zone hubs for emission-free final distribution, reducing duplicate trips into tight streets and smoothing compliance. In the Netherlands, authorities explicitly promote this hub-and-spoke model to maintain service levels while air-quality targets are met. For multi-city tours, expect more “split-fleet” dispatch – diesel tractors for long-haul legs plus ZE vans or rigid trucks for the last miles inside zones.
A practical checklist for 2025-2026
Map your lanes against active and announced zones and note local cut-offs for Euro 5/6 vans and Euro 6 trucks; national pages and municipal portals publish the specifics and plate-check tools. Audit each vehicle’s eligibility against transition rules, then time replacements to hit the 2027-2030 deadlines without stranding capacity. Stand up at least one near-zone hub in cities you serve frequently and secure overnight charging there or at your depot. Finally, plan for AFIR-enabled corridor charging to support intercity flows that backfill your urban ZE routes – the infrastructure ramp starts now, not in 2030.
The bottom line for European logistics
2025 marked the year when city access rules moved from policy pilots to operational reality. With Dutch ZEZs live, Copenhagen tightening delivery access, and French ZFEs ratcheting up, diesel’s last-mile dominance is being actively unwound. The winners will be networks that combine compliant vehicles, smart hub placement at zone edges, and a charging strategy aligned to the EU’s infrastructure build-out.