The evidence found in the final report of the EU Parliament's Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS) committee clearly shows that the 'Dieselgate' scandal could have been prevented, MEP Miriam Dalli has said in a statement.
Following a committee vote on this report, the S&D spokesperson on Environment Miriam Dalli noted that this scandal would not have occurred if Member States and the European Commission acted upon their legal and administrative responsibilities.
The 'Dieselgate' scandal saw the multinational company Volkswagen admitting it had intentionally programmed diesel engines to activate certain emission controls only during laboratory testing, which did not reflect the same emission levels in the real world. This scandal involved around 11 million vehicles sold worldwide between 2009 and 2015. On 17 December 2015 the European Parliament decided to set up the EMIS Committee to investigate in detail alleged contraventions and maladministration in relation to emission measurements in the automotive sector.
The report presented by the EMIS committee, of which Miriam Dalli is a member on behalf of the Socialists and Democrats, concludes that Member States failed to implement in an effective way Regulation (EC) 715/2007. While the latter addressed the use of 'defeat devices', none of the Member States found the defeat devices installed in the Volkswagen vehicles before the US authorities flagged the abuse in September 2015.
"Several studies have reported large discrepancies between pollutant emissions measured in the laboratory during the type-approval process and the same emissions measured in real world conditions, the relevant authorities never took any action. It is also not ideal that Member States relied on tests which were carried out in the car manufacturers' certified laboratories," Miriam Dalli said.
The Labour MEP added that the European Commission and Member States should learn from the past mistakes, and dedicate more resources so that a similar abuse is not repeated.
"There are various useful recommendations in this report, and I hope the relevant authorities take the necessary decisions by the end of this Maltese Presidency. This is crucial so that existing legislations reduce air pollution, not only on paper or in the laboratory, but also on the road and in our cities. Ultimately, only through this approach can we restore the trust of our consumers and citizens in European products and policy," Dr Dalli concluded.
Seb Dance, S&D spokesperson on the Dieselgate scandal, highlighted how the verdict is clear. "Maladministration and negligence made widespread fraud in the car industry possible. Even after the scandal broke, industry lobbying convinced several EU member states to delay and water down new Real Driving Emissions testing and allow cars to pollute more than that allowed by law," Dance remarked.
The EMIS report was adopted with 40 votes in favour, 2 against and 2 abstentions.