Monthly Archives: October 2015

The VW scandal was today discussed by the European Parliament, following the tabling of an urgent oral question to the Commission to assess whether European testing regimes have also been affected. Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament today call for a formal investigation into the EU’s failure to enforce EU emission standards in spite of the fact that for years, both Member States and the Commission have been fully aware of misuse of the testing procedures. The Commission’s own research body uncovered major gaps between the results of car emission tests and the real world in 2011, and the Commission has admitted to being aware of the risk of “defeat devices” being used in the EU. While current EU laws task the Member States with the testing of new cars, the Commission should not duck its responsibility for ensuring that rules are respected across the EU. Alongside a formal investigation, Liberal and Democrat MEPs on the European Parliament’s Environment Committee have also called for real driving emissions test procedures which respect the legal emission limits for all vehicles to be fully in place within the next six months. The implementation of such tests was laid down in European law almost a decade ago.

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