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The European Parliament's Environment Committee has voted in favour of a proposal, tabled by UK Liberal Democrat MEP Chris Davies, to electronically limit vans' top speeds to 120kph (74.6mph).
MEPs also rejected a move to tighten 2020 average CO2 emissions targets for vans to less than the current target of 147g/km, but said stricter limits would be introduced in 2025.
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe MEP Holger Krahmer, the EP's rapporteur for the review of the regulation, welcomed the committee's decision to retain the 147g/km CO2 target for 2020 in its draft law, which was agreed in 2010.
He said: "Calls for more ambitious targets were rejected. If we change targets too often manufacturers do not have planning security."
But Krahmer did not approve of the decision to introduce speed limits: "The EU is not the right place to regulate the behaviour of van drivers. It is not the task of the EU to dictate a maximum speed limit of 120kph.
"This is an intervention into the road traffic regulations of the member states."
Brussels-based green transport lobby group Transport & Environment supported capping van speed limits.
It claimed the move would encourage the supply of smaller engines and cut average van fuel consumption and emissions by at least 6% a year.
T&E also called for tougher emissions limits. It claimed the 2020 target of 147g/km CO2 overestimated the cost of cleaner technologies.
William Todts, policy officer, clean vehicles, said emissions targets for vans were "not very ambitious compared to cars" and should be set at 118g/km for 2020 to bring them in line with the 95g/km target for cars.
For 2025 he said a sub-100g/km figure should be introduced for vans to boost the uptake of more advanced technologies.
But the EP set a target for van fleets to cut average emissions to between 105-120g/km CO2 by 2025 - with a figure based on an impact assessment to be finalised by 2017.
It also said manufacturers could use super credits, which assign a favourable weighting to vans that emit less than 50g/km of CO2.
Each of these vehicles would count as 3.5 vans in 2014, falling to 1.3 from 2018 to 2023. However, the number of vans affected by these multipliers must not exceed 1% per manufacturer.
The committee said the UN-defined World Light Duty Test Procedure should replace today's procedure in EU law "as a matter of urgency" to bring official emission figures in line with those achieved under everyday driving conditions.
Proposals will be negotiated by EU ministers. Once agreement is reached the EP will vote upon the amended regulation.
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