Brussels, 19/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - According to a decision made by the Federal Motor Transport Authority (Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt - KBA) on Thursday 15 October, as reported in the German newspaper, Bild Zeitung, Volkswagen has systematically used cheat devices, which would have clearly broken European law.
The German newspaper's article is based on a letter from the German Transport Minister, Alexander Dobrindt, who quotes Article (5, 2) of EC Regulation 715/2007 “on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information”. The article in question focuses on the requirements and tests carried out during the trials and categorically prohibits cheat devices, “which reduce the effectiveness of emissions control systems”.
The article includes, however, three exceptions to this ban, when: the device is justified in terms of engine protection against damages or accidents and to ensure vehicles function in perfect safety; that they are only activated when the engine starts; or when “the conditions are substantially included in trial procedures for verifying evaporation related emissions and average emissions from the rear exhaust pipe”. In the same regulation, another article (3.10) is quite clear about cheat devices, namely, “in all conceptualisation elements used for temperature detection, vehicle speed, engine speed in revolutions / minute, transmission, vacuum or any other parameter for the purpose of activating, modulating, delaying or deactivating the operation of any part of the emission control system, which reduces the effectiveness of emission control system under conditions which may reasonably be expected to be in operation and normal vehicle use”.
According to some observers, this decision provides a possibility for member states to pursue the German manufacturer in the courts. Article 13 of the same regulation highlights the obligation incumbent on member states to sanction manufacturers that have breached the above-mentioned requirements and to do so in a way that is efficient, proportionate and dissuasive.
There are five kinds of infringements: false declarations during registration or recall procedures; the falsification of registration test results or those pertaining to service compliance; concealing data or technical specifications that could lead to a recall or withdrawal from registration; the use of cheat devices and, finally, a refusal to grant access to information. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)