Saturday

23rd Sep 2023

Fiat may face €80 fine over emissions cheating

  • Fiat said earlier this year that all of its cars complied with existing legislation (Photo: Bruno)

German authorities are currently investigating whether Fiat has installed emission cheating software in its cars.

The German transport ministry found that Fiat cars' emissions on the road were much higher than in the official test, but transport minister Alexander Dobrindt is annoyed by Fiat's "uncooperative behaviour".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

The Italian carmaker irritated Dobrindt in May by arguing that it only needs to explain itself to the Italian authorities. Dobrindt said the Italian authorities have been informed of his ministry's findings.

But if the Italian authorities do find Fiat has used an illegal defeat device, the fines it potentially faces are only a fraction of the €632 million in profits its parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles made last year.

EU member states agreed in 2007 that they would introduce “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” penalties for the use of so-called defeat devices - which reduce the effect of pollution filters.

Earlier this month, this website reported that some member states have put in place fines as low as €1,000.

But additional documents released last week under a freedom of information request by this website show that Italy has even lower fines.

The fine for using a defeat device in Italy is an administrative penalty of between €80 and €318, a letter from the Italian transport ministry showed.

It is unclear from the letter if that fine would apply to an infringement as a whole, or per car. But even in the latter case, there is a stark difference with the United States, where fines start at $3,750 per car, and can be as high as $37,500 per car.

The letter was sent to Brussels in May 2016, in response to questions from the European Commission.

Following the confession by Volkswagen Group in September 2015, that it had equipped cars with defeat devices that could detect diesel cars being tested, the commission tried to establish the level of fines across the bloc.

“We have received the replies from all member states except Greece within the set deadline (12 May 2016) and are currently analysing the information provided received and will assess the need for any further action,” EU commission spokeswoman Lucia Caudet told EUobserver in an email.

EUobserver requested to see the responses. The commission released part of the documents in May, showing that several countries had fines lower than €10,000.

On 21 June, it released additional documents, including the response from Italy.

“We are following national authorities' policing and enforcement of EU rules in the automobile sector very closely,” Caudet said.

She said that letters between Brussels and EU capitals up to this point “do not constitute a step in an infringement procedure and their content is confidential”.

She did not respond to the question why the commission did nothing for three years when, in February 2013, EU officials carried out a similar exercise in asking national capitals about their fines.

Then, only 18 member states responded.

However, the Brussels executive did not follow up with those that had not replied, nor did it begin any infringement procedures against those countries whose fines were considerably low.

The fines issue for the use of defeat devices moved up the agenda only after Jean-Claude Juncker took over as commission chief and the Volkswagen scandal broke.

The Juncker commission has recently proposed a reform of the rules on car certification.

If the proposal is adopted, member states would be required to inform the commission annually about the penalties they imposed.

The commission proposed that under the new rules, the use of a defeat device could be punished by up to €30,000 per vehicle.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said in May that all of its vehicles were “compliant with existing emissions rules”.

(Photo: EUobserver)

Call to readers: If you have knowledge about the relevant penalty in your country, and it is not yet listed in this article, please contact us.

Emissions cheats face tiny fines in some EU states

Fines for car firms that cheat tests in the EU range from €7 million to €1,000. EU commission itself unsure to what extent states complied with rules on "dissuasive" penalties.

Interview

Learn from US on emissions, says former EPA chief

Europe should increase fines on emissions-cheating software and monitor carmakers more closely, says a former senior official at the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Latest News

  1. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  2. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  3. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power
  4. Here's the headline of every op-ed imploring something to stop
  5. Report: Tax richest 0.5%, raise €213bn for EU coffers
  6. EU aid for Africa risks violating spending rules, Oxfam says
  7. Activists push €40bn fossil subsidies into Dutch-election spotlight
  8. Europe must Trump-proof its Ukraine arms supplies

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us