VW emission scandal: EU threatens members with legal action

The European Union (EU) said it would initiate legal action against Germany, UK and five other member states if they fail to take action against Volkswagen over the diesel emissions scandal, according to a Reuters report.

The European Commission is wielding its biggest available stick in an attempt to force member nations to clamp down on diesel cars spewing health-harming nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution. The move is a sign that the EU’s executive body, under pressure from the European Parliament, is keen to prove its worth to voters, the report added.

Germany, Britain, Spain and Luxembourg stand accused of failing to impose the kind of penalties Volkswagen has faced in the US over its use of illegal ‘defeat device’ software to mask real-world NOx emissions blamed for respiratory illnesses and early deaths.

The Commission also accused Berlin and London of refusing to share the details of suspicious findings revealed by national investigations into the ‘dieselgate’ scandal, without which it cannot carry out a supervisory role.

“This goes far beyond Volkswagen,” the report quoted a source in the EU, adding that officials had more cases planned in a bid to force cars spewing up to five times the legal NOx limit off the road.

The move is the first step in what is known as infringement procedures, allowing the EU to ensure the bloc’s 28 nations abide by agreed EU-wide regulations. Member states have two months to respond.

If they fail to do so convincingly, the commission may take them to court.

But the Commission faces a tough fight. Its proposal for a shake-up of rules on new car approvals has been reportedly watered down by member states.

Defeat devices have been illegal under EU law since 2007. But EU carmakers, who employ some 12 million people in the bloc, say that they are not doing anything wrong because there is an exemption allowing them to turn off emission control systems when necessary for safety or to protect engines.

Germany has said that the widely exploited loophole is the result of poorly framed EU law. However, it has asked the Commission to mediate in its dispute with Fiat Chrysler, accused in Germany of using an illegal device to scale back emission controls after 22 minutes, which just longer than official test time.

Source: Reuters