Friday
29th Sep 2023
The EU Commission will now spend €3.4m next year to rent cars for emissions testing - after EUobserver revealed that models loaned by the manufacturer were then subject to commercial confidentiality clauses.
EU negotiators agree that the European Commission shall have the right and obligation to double-check cars after they have been approved.
Negotiators meet this week to discuss new rules to prevent emissions cheating, but EU states want only a mild overhaul of the system.
The budget was requested by MEPs. The organisation that uncovered Volkswagen's cheating says 'Dieselgate' showed the importance of funding of 'third-party' testing.
German car company has fixed 5.4 million of the 8.5 million European diesel cars that were equipped with emissions-cheating software. Some consumers have decided to shun Volkswagen Group forever.
In wake of dieselgate, Ryanair and other issues, some MEPs are demanding US-style class actions to protect EU customers.
The EU Commission has kept results of an emissions test of a Porsche diesel vehicle secret for months, at the request of the German car company - which was fined €535m for its role in the Dieselgate scandal.
It is two years since the EU parliament concluded that EU maladministration had helped cause the deadly emissions scandal known as 'Dieselgate'. But MEPs 'never really received a proper response' from the EU commission.
The Court of Justice of the EU annulled legislation which relaxed toxic emission limits for cars. EU commissioner Bienkowska said the commission will appeal.
In Europe, more than a third of those killed each year by toxic particulate matter - associated with unlawful diesel emissions exceeding the EU limits - live in about 100 conurbations, mainly in Italy, France, Germany, UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain.
Three European capitals are seeking to annul laxer nitrogen oxides limits for cars - which were introduced as compensation to the car industry's difficulties in passing the new on-road emissions test.
Industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska told MEPs that the commission was still analysing the reasons given by national governments for letting Volkswagen off the hook.
Data shows that at least two million of the 8.5 million 'cheat diesels' are still driving around in Europe unchanged.
The European Investment Bank has kept a report explaining how it was tricked into giving Volkswagen Group a €400m loan secret. MEPs want to make it public, plus a paper with recommendations on how to prevent future deceptions.
The president of the European Investment Bank, Werner Hoyer, said the bank had high standards - but did not explain why an anti-fraud report on a loan to Volkswagen was being kept secret.
German carmaker told EU commission in a private meeting it expected only 75 percent of cars will be fixed by the end of 2017.
Remote sensing can be a way to identify car models that have suspiciously high emissions, the Commission has said in the wake of Dieselgate.
Industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska often finds herself on opposite sides to the car industry, referring to diesel engines as the "technology of the past".
Half the premature deaths from car pollution are caused by nitrogen oxide emissions exceeding the EU limits, a new study shows.
Two years after the emissions cheating scandal broke, anonymous sources tell EUobserver about the "tense" atmosphere in the EU offices dealing with the issue.
As of Friday, all automakers applying for a car type approval need to pass the Real Driving Emissions test. While it is an improvement, the test is not foolproof.
One month before a deadline promised to the European Commission, the German carmaker has updated just over 60 percent of its diesel cars that have cheating devices.
EU anti-fraud agency and European Investment Bank tight-lipped on report that said Volkswagen deceived the bank when acquiring a €400 million loan.
The leading EU member state must sooner or later face its responsibility for Europe's problems, said German political thinker Ulrike Guerot.
The European Commission welcomed the German carmakers' pledge to update software in diesel cars, but is waiting for details on how emissions will be reduced.
The EU commission confirms it has received "information" about a possible cartel that is “currently being assessed", but refused to provide any further comments.
"It seems we have not yet reached the bottom of the emission scandal", said the European commissioner for industry, Elzbieta Bienkowska, in a confidential letter.
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has tested a Volkswagen Tiguan before and after the carmaker removed the illegal emissions cheating software.
“It is possible that a crime has been committed,” car type-approval authority RDW said about the emissions strategy used in a Suzuki Vitara.
The EU commission wanted the power to hand out fines to cheating automakers, but the council limited the instances in which the commission can do so.
The cities of Paris, Brussels, and Madrid have asked the EU's court to annul a new on-road emissions test, but work is not expected to be finished before the summer.
An infringement procedure has been opened against Italy, over concerns that the country did not do enough to make sure that Fiat cars were clean enough.
New research published in Nature science magazine gives a better picture of the health impact of cars emitting beyond the EU limits.
