Brussels, 28/08/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 27 August, the summary trial judge of the Council of State ordered France to issue the registrations of Mercedes model cars which it has been blocking since mid-June, pending a ruling by the highest administrative jurisdictional level.
In mid-June, the French Ministry for Ecology stopped issuing the identification codes (CNIT) for the A Class, B Class, CLA and SL vehicles of the German marque, on the grounds that these vehicles did not use a new refrigerant, R1234yf, for their air conditioning, thereby infringing a European directive which entered fully into force on 1 January 2013. This decision, which had the effect of blocking the registration of these cars, was thrown out by the Administrative Court of Versailles. The state hit back on 26 July, playing the safeguard clause which allows a member state of the EU not to register vehicles for up to 6 months if they represent a danger to health, the environment or road safety.
In its ruling, the summary trial judge calls on the minister for ecology to issue the identification codes of the cars in question “in order to allow them to be registered in France within two days”. Furthermore, the implementation of the safeguard clause “is suspended”. The state must also pay €3,000 to Mercedes Benz France. “It does not appear that the registration in France of the vehicles in question (…) can be regarded as likely, in itself, seriously to harm the environment”, the summary trial judge stated. He did, however, rule that Mercedes was suffering harm as the models blocked represented 60% of the sales and 40% of the turnover of its French activities. The marque with the star, as it is affectionately known in France, a subsidiary of the German car manufacturer Daimler, explained that it had 4,500 cars blocked, around 2,700 of which had already been sold.
Serious harm
The ruling states that there were no doubts that continuation of the blockage could only expose the company and its network of distributors to cancelled orders and losses of sales and clients, which may cause serious commercial and financial harm and harm to the company image.
“We welcome the decision of the Council of State which recognises that we are in the right”, Mercedes France immediately reacted in a press release (our translation). “This decision therefore restores the balance in the competition situation between all car builders in Europe”, the press release added.
The decision of the Council is without prejudice to the substance of the dossier
The French Ministries of Ecology and Transport “note” the ruling of the summary trial judge provisionally to suspend the French decision to ban the registration of four models of Daimler-Mercedes cars (B Class, A Class, CLA and SL). The French state has pledged to issue the identification codes (CNIT) of the vehicles in question within two days. The Ministries of Ecology and Transport decided, on 26 July of this year, to implement the safeguard clause provided for by Article 29 of European Directive 2007/46/EC of 5 September 2007 and refused to register the vehicles in infringement of the rules in force on French soil. Since1 January 2013, the Ministries explained, all vehicles received in France must, in line with European Directive 2006/40/EC of 17 May 2006, use a new air conditioning fluid with global warming potential (GWP) of less than 150. This measure, from which models approved prior to 2011 were exempted until 2017, aims drastically to reduce the environmental impact of air conditioning fluids, as those currently in use have a GWP of greater than 1,300.
Daimler-Mercedes decided not to comply with these requirements for four of its models (B Class, A Class, CLA and SL) despite the reminder issued to it by the European Commission to come into line with these rules. At the public hearing before the summary trial judge on 23 August, the French authorities pointed out that the car builder could ask for the cars in question to be registered once they were equipped with air conditioning fluid which complied with the rules, an operation which could easily be brought about either in the factory or in the manufacturer's concessions.
The summary trial judge took the view that the applicable law did not authorise France to refuse the appealed registrations: the national registration of the vehicles in question, limited in number, did not give rise to serious harm to the environment. The registration of these vehicles is therefore authorised temporarily on national soil, until the Council of State returns its definitive decision (in the next few months). The decision of the Council of State is without prejudice to the substance of the dossier, France adds. The summary trial judge noted in his decision that he was not authorised to take a position on the legality of the decisions of the German authorities which allowed the vehicles to be approved, Paris explains. Furthermore, the decision of the Council of State is without prejudice to any further action the European Commission may decide to take. Amongst other things, it will decide on appropriate measures to take in order to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements.
The Commission was not impressed that Daimler, which initially agreed to use R1234yf, reneged on its decision, claiming that it presents an ignition risk in the event of a collision. The Commission is therefore threatening to launch infringement procedures against Germany.
Initially isolated in its position, Daimler was joined last week by the Japanese car producer Toyota, which has decided against using the new fluid for its Prius Plus, Lexus GS and GT86 models which are sold in Europe. The matter came to light due to a Franco-German dispute over reducing CO2 emissions from cars to 95 g/km: Paris suspects that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, campaigning for a third term in office, wants to scupper this European project which is unfavourable to the high-powered cars produced by the German car builders, but not to the small cars built by the French. (LC/transl.fl)