Brussels, 07/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 7 June at the Transport Ministers Council, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market and Industry, Elzbieta Bienkowska, said that it was unnecessary to amend European legislation on motor vehicle improvement, in an effort to guarantee better controls of defeat devices and that they should instead focus on effective implementation of current legislation. She therefore adopted a position opposing the one called for by Germany, which wanted legislation to be redrafted.
The Commissioner said that she was not convinced of the need to amend existing texts, which she believes are "already clear". She was speaking at the end of the debate on the possible shortcomings in legislation on motor vehicle approval (Regulation 715/2007). The Commissioner believes that manufacturers will always find a way of circumventing legislation. Therefore, the first action required should focus on strengthening market monitoring and implementation of European legislation already in place.
This position is contrary to that called for by Germany. The German Minister for Transport, Alexander Dobrindt, highlighted the need to revise the existing text in view of amending Article 5, Paragraph 2, which lists the cases were the use of a defeat mechanism can be tolerated, for example, when protecting motor vehicles (see EUROPE 11565). The German delegation therefore proposed adding a clause that would allow for the use of these devices when manufacturers (by integrating them into the most cutting-edge technologies available) are obliged to appeal for defeat devices when they wish is to protect motor engines from damage. The Germans believe that it will therefore be necessary to work out whether the technology used is the best available at the time of granting approval for the vehicle models in question. According to Germany, "Formulating this exception with as much precision as possible would help strengthen legal certainty". Germany's position does not appear to be shared by the other member states, at least not by Slovenia. Karima Delli (Greens/EFA, France) believes that the German position is simply inadmissible, given that the country is simply seeking to "avoid its own responsibility by identifying so called vague European legislation, when in fact this legislation explicitly bans deceptive softwares".
Ultimately, the overwhelming majority of member states shifted in the direction of what was being advocated by the European Commission and are not calling for the article to be clarified. These countries include France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Netherlands.
Romania, however, has put a project for a European road transport agency on the table again, which would allow for more efficient market monitoring. Commissioner Bienkowska, however, dismissed this possibility when interviewed by EUROPE last January (see EUROPE 11476).
The Dutch Presidency of the Council of the EU will produce a report on the exchanges that will take place at the Environment Council on 20 June next. This will be making a decision on issues relating to Euro V and VI rules. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)