Dutch Removals: Zero-Emission Zones, Move-Day Street Rules

Which Dutch rules decide whether a removal vehicle can reach your door?

Two sets of rules decide it. The zone rules, set nationally and applied city by city, limit which vans and lorries may enter a municipality’s zero-emission zone. The street rules, which can differ from town to town, govern where the vehicle may stand, whether it pays for parking and whether the street may be closed. Few of the official pages we read mention a removal vehicle at all.

We are the introduction, not the mover. A partner removal company reads your enquiry and checks it covers the move. Assessing the load and quoting is its job, not ours.

Everything here concerns the Dutch end of a move to, from or within the Netherlands: the zones, the exemptions and the street. If you are leaving a Dutch address for Germany, our page on moving from the Netherlands to Germany goes through deregistering and the car. UK paperwork, Dutch customs and registration sit on other pages.

Which Dutch municipalities have zero-emission zones, and which vehicles do they affect?

OpwegnaarZES, the website of the national zones programme, lists 19 municipalities and Schiphol (opens in a new window) that already have a zero-emission zone. The zones stop vans and lorries running on diesel, petrol or LPG, subject to transitional dates, and do not apply to cars, taxis or buses. Separate diesel-only zones, the milieuzones, have their own access rules, so a city can have both.

The 19 are Amersfoort, Amsterdam, Arnhem, Assen, Delft, The Hague (Den Haag), Eindhoven, Enschede, Gouda, Groningen, Haarlem, ’s-Hertogenbosch, Leiden, Maastricht, Nijmegen, Rotterdam, Tilburg, Utrecht and Zwolle. Each has its own start date on the programme’s page: Arnhem’s began on 1 June 2026, while Almere, Breda and Venlo are among those with later dates. Look up your town’s date before you book.

On its milieuzone page (opens in a new window) the programme says these zones apply only to diesel cars, vans, lorries and buses. A diesel car needs emission class 4 or higher in The Hague and Arnhem, and class 5 or higher in Amsterdam and Utrecht. A diesel lorry needs class 6 or higher in the seven places the page lists for lorry zones: Amsterdam, Arnhem, Breda, Delft, Maastricht, Rijswijk and Rotterdam’s Maasvlakte. In The Hague and Utrecht, vans fall under the zero-emission zone instead.

For a foreign-registered vehicle, Utrecht’s page on van rules (opens in a new window) says its online plate check does not work, so the owner has to compare the vehicle with the rules on the page.

Where do the zones lie in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague?

None of the four zero-emission zones takes in the whole city today: it lies inside the central ring road (the S100) in Amsterdam, inside the ring in Rotterdam, in the centre in Utrecht, and in the centre plus part of the coast in The Hague. Each city adds its own rules around the zone, and Utrecht says its zone will reach the whole city from 2030. Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven have city guides of their own: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven.

Amsterdam.
The city’s rules for vans (opens in a new window) say a class 5 van loses access to the zone inside the S100 on 1 January 2027 but may still enter the milieuzone between the A10 ring road and the S100. Its rules for lorries (opens in a new window) say the city expects the lorry zone to grow from 2028 to the size of today’s milieuzone, and its van page says the same for vans.
Rotterdam.
Three regimes, two places to ask. The RDW grants exemptions for the zone inside the ring (opens in a new window); the city itself grants them for the lorry ban on the ’s-Gravendijkwal and for the Maasvlakte milieuzone, and neither city exemption is valid in the zero-emission zone. A lorry with a foreign plate registers with the city once, free of charge, to enter the Maasvlakte.
Utrecht.
The zero-emission zone and the diesel-car milieuzone share the same central area. The city’s page on the two zones (opens in a new window) says the zero-emission zone will be extended from 2030, and its page on van rules adds that some business parks may be excepted until 2035, to be decided in 2026.
The Hague.
The city’s zone page (opens in a new window) puts the centre and the coast in the zero-emission zone, the coast being parts of Haagse Hout and Loosduinen, with Segbroek and Scheveningen, whose harbour is a separate milieuzone. An exemption for the centre also applies on the coast from 1 January 2026.

Three more places have a guide of their own. Maastricht and Breda each hold a diesel-lorry zone and publish a street rule that touches a removal lorry. For the tunnel under the Westerschelde, see Zeeland, and for island streets that are closed to motor traffic, the Wadden islands.

Which van and lorry dates apply, and where do the sources differ?

Under OpwegnaarZES’s access rules (opens in a new window), vans of class 4 or lower have no access without an exemption, class 5 vans may enter until 1 January 2027, and new vans and lorries (first admitted from 1 January 2025) must be zero-emission, with listed exceptions. Older Euro 6 lorries have dates between 2028 and 2030. Sources differ on class 6 vans: 2028 on some pages, 2029 on others.

For lorries first admitted before 2025, the access rules give Euro 6 rigid lorries (box or tipper bodies) from 2017 to 2019 until 1 January 2028, those from 2020 to 2024 until 1 January 2030, and Euro 6 tractor units, which pull semi-trailers, from 2017 to 2024 until 1 January 2030. Rotterdam adds that lorries of class 5 or lower, and class 6 lorries first admitted before 2017, have been barred since 1 January 2025.

The removal-vehicle exemption for new lorries ends on 1 January 2030. OpwegnaarZES’s page on exceptions after 2030 (opens in a new window) says verhuiswagens, removal vehicles, will then have access only if emission-free, except that an exemption stays for models with special bodywork that has no zero-emission version. It adds that, on a page dated 17 September 2026, the new rules were still to be written into the municipalities’ joint exemption policy in autumn 2026.

The pages differ in two places.

Class 6 vans.
The access-rules page lists 2029 and, in a footnote, 2028 with an extension to 2029 planned by the cabinet, while OpwegnaarZES’s English page, dated 30 October 2025, calls the extension decided but not yet official. The RDW says 2028, with 2029 not yet final. Utrecht gives 2028, possibly extended to 2029, and Amsterdam gives 2029. The Hague’s table says until 2029, and the city wants to allow class 6 vans until 2035, a plan it calls not final.
When every van must be emission-free.
Utrecht says from 1 January 2029 for vans and 1 January 2030 for lorries; Rotterdam says no combustion-engine van or lorry may enter its zone from 1 January 2030, without mentioning the 2029 date for class 6 vans that the access rules, Utrecht and Amsterdam give.

What does a day exemption cost, and what does it still not allow?

The RDW charges €30.00 for each day-exemption request, with no VAT, and keeps the fee if the request is refused. In Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht the RDW still requires a van to be at least emission class 4, and a lorry at least class 5, which stays so until 2030, to drive or stop in the zone, even with a day exemption; from 1 January 2027 the van floor rises to class 5.

A day exemption can be used from midnight until 6am the next day. The RDW’s day-exemption page (opens in a new window), which shows no date, says a request may still be made after the vehicle has already entered the zone that day, but not on the following day. A request that goes unused, or names the wrong date or city, still counts towards the cap of 12 per municipality each year. Our UK to Netherlands page has the foreign-plate steps.

A vehicle that does not meet the rules and has no exemption can be fined at an inspection, the RDW says. OpwegnaarZES’s access-rules page gives the 2026 amounts as €130 for a van and €320 for a lorry. Rotterdam says its amounts exclude €9 in administration costs, and The Hague says the Central Judicial Collection Agency (CJIB) sends the fine.

The pages differ in two places. The RDW names Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht for the class floor on two of its pages, and adds Arnhem on its page for foreign vehicles. On milieuzones, the RDW says a zero-emission-zone exemption usually does not apply there and to ask the municipality, while Amsterdam and The Hague say theirs also admits a vehicle to the milieuzone. A third point is left open: the RDW says (opens in a new window) a longer exemption cannot yet be requested for a foreign plate, while OpwegnaarZES (opens in a new window) gives an email address at the zero-emissieloket, the exemption desk, for long exemptions, and neither page explains how the two fit together.

The pages we read do not say who requests an exemption for a move, the household or the removal company. Request a zero-emission-zone exemption only through the RDW’s own website, which OpwegnaarZES calls the only official one after finding sites that charge fees for exemptions.

How do Utrecht and The Hague treat a removal vehicle parked outside your door?

Utrecht lets a removal vehicle load and unload on parking bays without paying parking fees, and allows a street closure only when nothing else will do, to be discussed with the city at least 10 working days ahead. The Hague lets the vehicle stand without paying during the move, allows no advance reservation, and where parking is paid needs it to be clear to enforcers that a move is under way.

Utrecht

Utrecht’s page for removal vehicles (opens in a new window) adds conditions. Driveways, exits and other buildings’ doors must stay clear, and the vehicle must be easy to see, marked with clear signs or red-and-white warning barriers. Caution tape is not allowed. Cyclists and pedestrians must be able to pass safely, with traffic marshals if needed, and some streets limit the length, width, height or axle load of a vehicle.

Where an area has delivery hours, the move has to fall inside them, and for other areas the page mentions an exemption without saying from what. A street closure goes through the city’s temporary traffic measures team, TVU. The same page asks whether your removal vehicle may enter the zero-emission zone in the centre.

Utrecht’s new freight rules for the city centre (opens in a new window) start on 1 January 2027, after a postponement. They bar vehicles over 7,500 kg including load, limit much of the centre to 3,500 kg, and bar lorries over 10 m, trailer included. The page offers exemptions and does not mention removal vehicles, so ask the removal company how the rules apply to your street.

The Hague

The Hague’s parking page for movers (opens in a new window) is written for the moving company. The vehicle may stand without paying during the move. Where the street has paid parking, it must be clear to the enforcers that a move is under way, and breaks and other interruptions are paid. The page suggests using the visitor permit of those moving, and keeping the assignment confirmation to hand.

A removal lift needs no permit, but the road manager of the district (stadsdeel) should be told, especially when the lift stands on the pavement for a long time. A crane needs a hoisting permit (takelvergunning).

Which other Dutch towns publish a rule for a removal van?

Eighteen towns beyond the city guides publish a council page that bears on a move. Their rules are small and local, and they fall into four kinds. Each guide gives its own figures and says which year they are for, where the page shows one.

Posts, bollards or cameras that close a pedestrian centre, with set loading windows: Alkmaar, Almelo, Den Helder, Helmond, Katwijk, Pijnacker-Nootdorp, Purmerend, Schiedam, Weert, Woerden and Zoetermeer.
A temporary exemption or permit that names a move, with a price and a notice period: Arnhem, Harderwijk and Hoorn.
A limit on the size of the van or lorry: Gooise Meren and Hilversum.
A notice or traffic plan for a move that blocks the road: Delft and Haarlem.

A rule in one town does not carry over to the next, and none of these is a substitute for the city guides above.

What do the official pages leave unsaid, and who should you ask?

Four things stayed unsettled: Amsterdam’s street rule for a removal vehicle, any Rotterdam rule for parking one, whether a smaller removal van is exempt like a removal lorry, and who requests a zone exemption. Your removal company is the one to ask, about its own vehicle and your address, and the answers belong in the written quotation.

Amsterdam.
The city’s zone pages for vans and lorries do not mention removal vehicles, and we could not find its page on parking one, so this page gives no Amsterdam street rule.
Rotterdam.
No Rotterdam page we read gives a rule for parking a removal vehicle. The page on temporary parking permits (opens in a new window) names moving as one reason to ask for one, for people not yet registered at the new address, but says a permit cannot always be had because many areas have a waiting list; the 2026 fee for a first permit is €9.50 a month, for at least one month.
Smaller removal vans.
The removal-vehicle entry on OpwegnaarZES’s special-vehicles page (opens in a new window) is for lorries, and its lists of exempt vans do not name a removal van, so the pages do not settle how a smaller removal van is treated.
Who requests an exemption.
The pages we read do not say whether the household or the removal company does; see the section on day exemptions.

Zone dates and city rules change, so read the linked pages again shortly before a move. The international moving checklist shows where address and access questions fall in the weeks before moving day.

Dutch zone and street rules, answered

Do the zero-emission zones apply to my own car?

Not according to the sources we read.

OpwegnaarZES says the zones do not apply to cars, taxis or buses, and the RDW says a car with foreign plates needs no exemption. A diesel car can still meet a milieuzone, which has its own emission-class rules in Amsterdam, Arnhem, The Hague and Utrecht.

How much is a one-day exemption for a van or lorry?

The RDW charges €30.00 for each day-exemption request, without VAT, and keeps the fee if the request is refused or you stop it.

The exemption can be used from midnight until 6am the next day. Check the current fee on the RDW’s page when you request one.

Can a removal vehicle stand without paying in Utrecht or The Hague?

During the move, yes, according to both cities’ pages for movers.

Utrecht allows loading and unloading on parking bays without parking fees. Where parking is paid, The Hague lets the vehicle stand without paying if enforcers can see a move is under way, but breaks are paid, and nothing can be reserved in advance.

Can I have a street closed for a move in Utrecht?

Only when there is no alternative, according to Utrecht’s page for removal vehicles.

The closure is discussed beforehand with the city’s temporary traffic measures team, no later than 10 working days before the move. The page also bans caution tape on a move; mark the vehicle with clear signs or red-and-white barriers.

Until when can a class 5 van enter the zones?

Until 1 January 2027, say OpwegnaarZES, the RDW, Rotterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and Amsterdam.

Vans of class 4 or lower already have no access without an exemption. For class 6 vans the pages differ: 2028 on some, 2029 on others, and The Hague mentions a plan for 2035.

Who requests a zone exemption for a removal vehicle?

The pages we read do not say whether the household or the removal company does.

The RDW says it is the only official body granting zero-emission-zone exemptions. Ask the removal company in writing who requests it, who pays and whether its vehicle meets the zone rules for your address.

Tell us about the Dutch address

Send the full address with postcode, the floor, whether there is a lift, how wide the street is and your date. Say if the address is in the centre of a city such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht or The Hague, since zone and street rules differ by city. Photos of the street and the front door show what access is like.

Send your move details

About International Removals Companies

International Removals Companies is an enquiry and introduction service run by DATACONTEXT (UK) LTD, in partnership with AGM Group. We don't move goods ourselves: the removal company quotes for your move and carries it out, so check its credentials and terms before you book. Our service is free. Discuss the quotation and booking terms directly with the removal company.

Email[email protected]
In partnership withAGM Group (agm.group)

Moving in the Netherlands: Zero-Emission Zones and Street Rules