Going by their written answers to the EMIS investigative committee on the Volkswagen scandal that EUROPE consulted on Monday 12 September, neither Internal Market and Industry Commissioner Elżbieta Bieńkowska, nor Environment Commissioner Karmenu Vella were aware of the existence of defeat devices before the Volkswagen scandal broke.
The two commissioners put forward the same reasoning. Their respective departments informed them at the start of their term of office about the great differences between emissions measured in laboratories and those in real driving conditions. Taking up where their predecessors and CARS 2020 left off, at the start of their term of office, their objective was therefore to improve the certification tests as a matter of priority and make progress as soon as possible on a new lab test (Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicles Test Procedure - WLTP) (see EUROPE 11573) along with establishing tests in real driving conditions, the infamous Real Driving Emissions Tests (RDE).
On the latter point, the commissioners were asked to respond about the comitology decision by national experts at the CTVM to increase conformity factors (2.1 in 2017 and then 1.5 in 2021) for RDE (see EUROPE 11421) on the European Commission’s position. On this question, the two Commissioners’ statements seem to diverge. Bieńkowska said that the agreement reached was within the range suggested by the Commission (between 1.6 and 2.2 for the first stage in 2017, and then from 1.2 to 1.6 for the second stage in 2021). Vella, however, seemed to regret the experts’ decision for lacking in ambition. He nevertheless said that it would be better to have an agreement than not to have an agreement, stressing the urgent need to implement it.
On the question of market surveillance, the two commissioners threw back the issue, explaining that under current EU legislation, the European Commission has no power in this domain and therefore the industry commissioner said she wanted progress as rapidly as possible on revising the system of certification authorities unveiled at the start of the year (see EUROPE 11477), hoping agreement would be found before the end of the year. This is a position criticised by a number of MEPs on the transport and tourism committee (see EUROPE 11614), who would prefer to wait for the end of the EMIS committee’s work.
Finally, the two commissioners said that rules for exemptions for defeat devices were clear and did not need to be rewritten, but the legislation simply needed to be better respected. Bieńkowska, however, did not seem very keen on opening infringement procedures against member states, although she did not rule it out. She said the member states’ responses on conditions for measuring vehicles (see EUROPE 11610) could form the basis of infringement proceedings. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens).