UK Government calls for EU-wide investigation into VW and emissions testing
Wed 30 September 2015
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Volkswagen has announced that nearly 1.2 million of its diesel vehicles sold in the UK are fitted with 'defeat devices'; the software implicated in the emissions scandal. It includes diesel-powered cars with the VW brand, Audi, Seat and Skoda as well as VW commercial vehicles.
VW's announcement followed a call by the UK Government for the EU to conduct a Europe-wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars in the UK are using similar 'defeat devices' as the company had acknowledged have been fitted to 11 million VW cars.
The Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: "The Government takes the unacceptable actions of VW extremely seriously. My priority is to protect the public as we go through the process of investigating what went wrong and what we can do to stop it happening again in the future.
"We have called on the EU to conduct a Europe-wide investigation into whether there is evidence that cars here have been fitted with defeat devices.
"In the meantime we are taking robust action. The Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) , the UK regulator, is working with vehicle manufacturers to ensure that this issue is not industry wide. As part of this work they will re-run laboratory tests where necessary and compare them against real world driving emissions."
In a public letter to European Commissioner Bienkowska, the transport secretary wrote: "The UK is committed to delivering cleaner air for our citizens and a key element of this is setting the correct standards for new cars at EU level. The UK has pressed for the early introduction of the new Real Driving Emissions test and the current issue reinforces my view that we must finalise these measures urgently and so set a clear obligation for vehicle manufacturers."
In response to the Government's statement the motor industry's trade body, SMMT, said: “We welcome the Government’s initiative to re-examine the automotive emission testing that has been undertaken in the UK. It is vital to reassure consumers that the cars operating on our roads are fully safe, legal and comply with all the latest emission requirements. We will be working with Government and its agencies to ensure the assessment has the full rigour necessary to provide reassurance and transparency.”
The House of Commons Library has recently published (30 Sept) a summary of the situation on VW and vehicle emissions testing which serves as a briefing paper for Parliamentarians.
LowCVP's response to the VW and emissions testing issue is here.
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