Following the opinion of the Advocate General, the Court of Justice ruled on Thursday, 17 December, that it is illegal to use a device that improves the performance of the gaseous pollutant emission control system during type-approval tests of diesel vehicles (Case C-693/18).
In fact, the court found that the justification that such a device contributes to preventing the engine from ageing or clogging up was not sufficient.
It was responding to a question referred by the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris [regional court, Paris] for a preliminary ruling concerning the interpretation of Regulation 715/2007 on type-approval of motor vehicles (see EUROPE 12478/31).
The main proceedings concern car manufacturer X building and placing on the market in France vehicles equipped with software that distorts the results of laboratory type-approval tests that measure nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. In particular, the manufacturer allegedly misled its customers regarding the performance of diesel vehicles and the tests conducted before they were placed on the market by equipping the vehicles with technology (EGR valve) that reduces final NOx emissions in laboratory tests. The investigation conducted by the Parquet de Paris [Prosecutor’s Office, Paris] revealed that a defeat device made it possible to reduce NOx emissions by almost 50% during the type-approval phase and had also resulted in the engine clogging up less.
In its judgment, the court notably endeavoured to define several elements of Regulation 715/2007, such as the concept of ‘element of design’ (an object manufactured with a view to its inclusion in a functional unit) or that of ‘emission control system’ (which includes both technologies and the strategy internal to vehicle engines aiming to limit the production of emissions and those aiming to reduce emissions after these have been produced). It concludes that the software installed on the engine control calculator is indeed an element of design and that the EGR system falls within the scope of the concept of an emission control system.
On the question of whether the installation of a defeat device that reduces the effectiveness of the emission control system—which is, in principle, prohibited—may be justified, the court points out that, in order to be justified, the presence of such a device must make it possible to protect the engine against sudden and exceptional damage and that only immediate risks of damage that produce a concrete danger when the vehicle is driven are those that would justify the use of a defeat device.
See the judgment: https://bit.ly/37utdNz (Original in French by Sophie Petitjean)