Brussels, 17/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission considers France's temporary ban on trading several new models of Mercedes legitimate.
The European Commission has sided with France in the dispute which pits the latter against Germany on France's ban on selling new Mercedes models Class A, Class B and CLA. Paris considers that these models are not in line with the new European legislation on air conditioning systems.
Fully applicable since 1 January, Directive 2006/40/EC on air conditioning systems in motor vehicles - known as the MAC (mobile air conditioning) directive - requires the use of refrigerants with a limited global warming potential. However, the HFO 1234yf refrigerant selected by the industry to fulfil the obligations of theMAC directive is considered unsafe by the German Daimler Group, to which Mercedes belongs. Mercedes continues to use the former refrigerant with a much higher air polluting potential.
On the eve of a meeting of member state representatives to discuss the Franco-German dispute on Wednesday 17 July, European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship Antonio Tajani reiterated that all vehicle manufacturers are obliged to comply with the MAC directive. He reprimanded the German manufacturer Mercedes:
“In the European market there are vehicles produced by this manufacturer that, according to the preliminary Commission analysis, are not in conformity with their type-approval, and not respecting the obligations of the MAC Directive. According to Framework Directive 2007/46/EC on type approval, non-conform vehicles cannot be sold or registered in the European Union”, Tajani said in a statement. “There are also vehicles, produced from May 2013 and approved under an extension of a previous type approval granted by the competent national (German) authority, whose legal status needs to be investigated further”, he added.
As far as the Commission is concerned - which says it is committed to ensuring the highest level of safety for vehicles on the market - the issues raised by Daimler have not been confirmed. “There has been no confirmation that the safety issues that have been raised are of general nature, or rather linked to specific systems/vehicles. The relevant national authorities, in Germany, are currently evaluating this”, Tajani stated.
Given this situation, the Commission sent a letter to the German authorities on 10 June as part of the framework of the EU pilot infringement procedure in order to clarify the situation. The Commission gives assurances that it will assess the points and explanations given by Berlin, in line with the Commission's role as guardian of the Treaties.
At the beginning of July, France informed the Commission of its intention to ban the registration of the new Class A, Class B and CLA models manufactured by Mercedes - models which France considered were not in line with the new European legislation. This decision is contested by the Daimler Group.
“Article 29 of the Framework Directive provides for the possibility for member states to adopt temporary safeguard measures, if some conditions are met and a specific procedure is followed. If this procedure is triggered, the Commission may consider the French initiative within this framework”, Tajani concluded. (EH/transl.fl)