European Union to crackdown on ‘defeat devices’ in the wake of Volkswagen scandal

Eikhout, the Greens’ environmental policy leader, said it had been “painful for the EU” to watch USA regulators seize the initiative on emissions test manipulation.

The pollutant – as the Government reported in a largely unnoticed statement unusually slipped out on a Saturday, the one of Jeremy Corbyn’s election – is estimated to cause the deaths of some 23,500 people in Britain alone each year, and much of it comes from diesel exhausts. The European Union and USA systems were not comparable, and a meeting with national authorities planned in the coming days will offer an opportunity to analyze if further measures are needed, said Joanna Szychowska, head of the automotive unit at the commission’s directorate general for internal market and industry.

European Parliament’s environment committee urged the European Commission to propose more stringent checks amid the widening scandal over emissions controls on VW’s diesel engines.

He said that Europe’s lax testing standards and a lack of action from officials mean that more harmful emissions are constantly released into the air than is allowed. London – Europe’s most polluted capital – is not expected, for example, to have cleaned up until after 2030, more than 20 years behind schedule.

Other states are also looking at filing class action suits against the world’s biggest car-maker and, according to reports, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) is looking into the issue, which raises the possibility of the company and individual executives facing criminal charges.

“This should be followed up with in-use compliance testing, whereby a sample of vehicles already in use are tested to check they still comply with the emissions limits”. This is partly down to the way they are designed, failing adequately to represent real-world driving conditions. Cars are generally put through a 20-minute test that involves prescribed acceleration, gear changes and deceleration.

The organisation added: ‘For some models the gap is so large T&E suspects that the auto is able to detect when it is tested using a “defeat device” and artificially lowers emissions during the test.

Brakes can be disconnected completely to avoid the contact and friction that can take place between their pads and discs even when they are not being applied.

The EPA accused VW of installing the so-called “defeat device” in 482,000 cars sold in the United States.

The commission said that it was waiting for the result of a probe by the German government into VW and some of the country’s other manufacturers.

The technical committee, made up of experts from each member state, is due to meet on Tuesday, October 6, to discuss this, while it is expected to be on the agenda for competitiveness ministers next Thursday.