Commission opens legal proceedings against seven nations over emissions scandal

LONDON (ICIS)–The European Commission (EC) has opened legal proceedings against seven member states for breach of EU rules in relation to the EU vehicle type approval legislation, the EC said on Thursday.

The action is due to the seven nations’ (Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Luxeumbourg, Spain and the UK) failure to set up penalties to deter car manufacturers from violating emissions legislation, or not penalising companies when a breach of the law has occurred.

The Commission has issued letters of formal notice – the first stage in the legal action procedure and constituting an official request for information – to Greece, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, due to the failure of those countries to introduce penalty systems for auto makers breaching emissions rules.

The body is also opening infringements against Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and the UK for not applying their national provisions on penalties. Germany and the UK broke European law by refusing to disclose all information gathered in national investigations in emissions irregularities in the Volkswagen scandal, according to the Commission.

“Abiding by the law is first and foremost the duty of car manufacturers. But national authorities across the EU must ensure that car manufacturers actually comply with the law,” said Elzbieta Bienkowska, the commissioner responsible for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

“For the future, the commission has tabled proposals to introduce greater European oversight and to make the type approval system more robust. We expect the European Parliament and Council to reach an agreement swiftly,” she added.

The automotive industry is a major global consumer of petrochemicals which contributes more than a third of the raw material costs of an average vehicle. ICIS tracks the movement of petrochemical raw material costs in auto production both globally and regionally with the weighted ICIS Basket of Automotive Petrochemicals (IBAP).

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