Leak shows EU Commission giving inside information to car lobby on new emissions tests
As the Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into the dieselgate scandali begins its work in Brussels, a leaked lobbying document from the European car manufacturers’ lobby, ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association), reveals a sophisticated, multi-faceted behind-the-scenes lobbying strategy aimed at weakening new emissions tests.
Last September’s dieselgate scandal exposed how car
manufacturers were meeting legal NOx emissions limits in laboratory
tests, but massively exceeding them
on the road (by up to 40 times in the case of Volkswagen). While this
was news to the general public, the European Commission had known
manufacturers were vastly exceeding limits back in 2011
and was designing new on-the-road tests, or ‘Real Driving Emissions’
(RDE) tests, to tackle the problem in diesel cars. But as the leak
shows, ACEA and its members had other plans. Their intention: to weaken
and delay the new tests, scheduled to be finalised in 2015 and
introduced in 2017, which could prevent thousands of premature deaths
every year but would most certainly dent profits if implemented in full.
manufacturers were meeting legal NOx emissions limits in laboratory
tests, but massively exceeding them
on the road (by up to 40 times in the case of Volkswagen). While this
was news to the general public, the European Commission had known
manufacturers were vastly exceeding limits back in 2011
and was designing new on-the-road tests, or ‘Real Driving Emissions’
(RDE) tests, to tackle the problem in diesel cars. But as the leak
shows, ACEA and its members had other plans. Their intention: to weaken
and delay the new tests, scheduled to be finalised in 2015 and
introduced in 2017, which could prevent thousands of premature deaths
every year but would most certainly dent profits if implemented in full.
The leak comes in the form of a presentation by
ACEA from February 2015, months before crucial votes on what would or
wouldn’t be included in the new tests, how stringent they would be, and
by when they should be introduced.
ACEA from February 2015, months before crucial votes on what would or
wouldn’t be included in the new tests, how stringent they would be, and
by when they should be introduced.
The document reveals how a secretive weekend meeting
between the Commission and ACEA guided the latter’s four-stage
negotiating strategy; how ACEA was prepared to compromise far further if
pushed – but never needed to due to inside information from the
Commission; and how it used EU member states to block proposals it
didn’t like when the Commission didn’t prove sufficiently malleable.
between the Commission and ACEA guided the latter’s four-stage
negotiating strategy; how ACEA was prepared to compromise far further if
pushed – but never needed to due to inside information from the
Commission; and how it used EU member states to block proposals it
didn’t like when the Commission didn’t prove sufficiently malleable.
