The EU versus the Automotive Industry
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e EU versus the Automotive Industry
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In the coming weeks the Court of Justice of the European Union will issue a ruling on permitted exceptions to the use of defeat devices for combustion engines. The case, which was transferred to the CJEU by a French court in 2018, focuses on Regulation (EC) No. 715/2007 concerning type approval.
“The new normal:” A lot of people are pinning their hopes on these three words, which describe the social and world order that will follow the coronavirus pandemic. But there are many other challenging situations where a new normality is also needed. Ever since the decision to use a defeat device in the VW EA189 engine more than a decade ago, the automotive industry has been in search of a new normal. In 2015 the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) highlighted Volkswagen’s violation of the US Clean Air Act, among other legislation, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confronted the German carmaker with the problem, which had far-reaching consequences. Since then diesel engines and the emissions they produce have been subject to social and political condemnation. Courts all over the world are handling an enormous number of cases concerning claims made by consumers against Volkswagen and other car manufacturers and compliance with emission legislation in cities. In addition, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has been investigating the interpreta tion of the rules on the type approval of motor vehicles since 2018 [1]. PRELIMINARY DECISION
A French court – the tribunal de grande instance de Paris – asked the highest judi cial body in Europe to make a preliminary ruling. In case C-693/18, the CJEU firstly considered the meaning of the concepts of “element of design” and “emission control system” to evaluate the presence of a defeat device. This led to the interpretation of the exceptions for defeat devices provided for in Article 5(2) of Reg ulation (EC) No. 715/2007. Although the discussions about the VW EA189 engine may have resulted in the public taking a different view of the situation, it is not the case that all defeat devices are prohibited. “Is slowing down the aging or the clogging-up of the engine among the requirements of ‘protecting the engine against damage or accident’ or of ‘safe operation of the vehicle’ that may justify the presence of a defeat device within the meaning of Article 5(2)(a)?”. This is the central question that was highlighted by the British Advocate General, Eleanor Sharpston, in her summation of the case on April 30, 2020 [2]. MTZ worldwide 01|2021
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IN THE SP OTLIGHT
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tion to be illegal in principle, even if the special mapping for the type approval test sometimes occurs in normal driving conditions, which Volkswagen explained to the French court was the case for the EA189. If the CJEU adopts the summation made by Sharpston, using different data for the type approval test and for normal driving condit
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