The European Commission overreached its authority by loosening emissions standards, a court ruled. Paris, Madrid and Brussels argued they could not enact clear air standards if the Commission's plan stayed in place.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/M. Sohn
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Three European capitals have won a legal battle with the European Commission after it tried to make emissions limits for cars and vans less stringent.
Paris, Brussels and Madrid brought the legal action against the Commission, claiming its standards were not demanding enough of manufacturers.
The General Court in Luxembourg sided with the capitals on Thursday, ruling the Commission did not have the power to change the emissions limits as it had done.
"The General Court upholds the actions brought by the cities of Paris, Brussels and Madrid and annuls in part the Commission's regulations setting excessively high oxides of nitrogen emission limits for the tests for new light passenger and commercial vehicles," the court said in a statement.
The Commission had increased the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) allowed in emissions to give automakers more time to adapt to new tests.
But the cities were worried the change would cause more pollution, harming people's health, and argued the change went against EU human rights and other laws.
The General Court of the European Union in LuxembourgImage: picture-alliance/MAXPPP/A. Marchi
How 'dieselgate put testing on the roads'
The dieselgate emissions scandal, in which many cars activated their emissions controls only when they were undergoing laboratory tests, led to pressure for emissions testing to take place under "real-life" conditions.
In 2016, the Commission introduced a regulation setting out the rules for the new real driving emissions (RDE) tests and what the permitted emissions limits should be.
It based the limits on the Euro 6 standard, which is the EU's general limit for emissions from cars.
Euro 6 states NOx emissions may not exceed 80 milligrams per kilometer.
But the Commission, attempting to give car manufacturers more leeway, said the RDE tests needed to take statistical and technical uncertainties into account.
It instead set the NOx limit 168 mg/km for a transition period and set a final limit at 120 mg/km. That's where the EU court said the Commission had gone too far.
The real driving emissions test was brought in shortly after the Volkswagen scandal was exposedImage: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
"The Commission did not have the power to amend the Euro 6 emission limits for the new real driving emissions tests," the court stated.
What happens now?
Paris, Brussels and Madrid already have their own local restrictions to curb air pollution, in particular NOx, the court said.
It ruled that only the part of the Commission's regulation setting the out the NOx limits needed to be annulled. The rest of the regulation, which set out how the RDE tests should be carried out, still stands.
The court also said "in light of the legal uncertainty which could ensue" following decisions already taken by car manufacturers and consumers, it would give the Commission one year to amend the regulation.
Paris's symbolic claim of €1 for "damage to its image and legitimacy" was rejected by the court.
Dieselgate: A timeline
VW's emissions scandal plunged the automaker into its deepest crisis ever. It brought with it everlasting damage to VW's reputation and massive fees and penalties — not to mention compensation claims from car owners.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Stratenschulte
The disaster unfolds — September 2015
About two weeks after Volkswagen admitted behind closed doors to US environmental regulators that it had installed cheating software in some 11 million of its diesel vehicles worldwide, the Environmental Protection Agency shared that information with the public. It was September 18, 2015. The ensuing crisis would eventually take a few unexpected turns.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Spata
The boss must go, long live the boss — September 2015
Volkswagen's then-CEO Martin Winterkorn (above) had little choice but to step down several days after news of the scandal broke. In September 2015, he tendered his resignation, but retained his other posts within the Volkswagen Group. Winterkorn's successor was Matthias Müller. Until taking the reins at VW, Müller had been the chairman at Porsche, a VW subsidiary.
Image: picture-alliance/Sven Simon
Raiding headquarters — October 2015
Regulators in the US weren't the only ones investigating VW. Authorities in Lower Saxony, the German state in which VW is based, were also scrutinizing the company. On October 8 2015, state prosecutors raided VW's headquarters along with several other corporate locations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Steffen
Hell breaks loose — January 2016
On January 4, 2016, the US government filed a lawsuit against VW in Detroit, accusing the German automaker of fraud and violations of American climate protection regulations. The lawsuit sought up to $46 billion for violations of the Clean Air Act.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Burgi
Quit or forced out? — March 2016
In March 2016, the head of VW in the US, Michael Horn, resigned. In the initial days and weeks after the scandal broke, he was the one US authorities turned to for information. He issued an official apology on behalf of the automaker, asking for the public's forgiveness.
Image: Getty Images/C. Somodevilla
Settlement — October 2016
On October 25 2016, a US judge approved a final settlement that would have VW pay $15.3 billion. In addition, affected cars would be retrofitted with better, non-deceptive hardware and software, or else VW would buy them back completely from customers.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Pleul
Imitators — July 2017
When dieselgate first emerged in 2015, analysts said it was likely other car makers were also cheating tests. But it wasn't until 2017 that other companies were targeted in probes. In July, German authorities launched investigations into luxury car makers Porsche and Daimler for allegedly cheating emissions tests. Others, such as Audi and Chrysler, have also been hit by similar allegations.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Kraufmann
Public still supportive — December 2017
Despite dieselgate, VW has managed to keep the emissions scandal from utterly tarnishing its image. According to several polls, between 55 to 67 percent of Germans continue to trust the automaker. In the US, polls show that roughly 50 percent still believe the German company produces worthwhile vehicles.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Klose
Fuming over monkeys — January 2018
In late January, however, VW suffered another heavy blow over reports that the company experimented on monkeys and made the animals inhale diesel fumes. To make matters worse, a separate experiment that had humans inhale relatively harmless nitrogen dioxide was revealed at the same time. Some media wrongly interpreted this to mean humans were also inhaling toxic fumes.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Gentsch
Canadian court demands millions — January 2020
Years after the scandal that caused Volkswagen to pay CAN$2.4 billion (US$1.83 billion), a court in Toronto order a further fine of CAN$196.5 million. Volkswagen pleaded guilty of violating in environmental laws. Prosecutor Tom Lemon noted that the fine was "26 times the highest fine ever for a Canadian environmental offence."
