EC Ponders Stronger Powers to Enforce Auto Emission Rules

The European Commission may give itself power to review the performance of national-level auto emission regulators, the Financial Times reports.

Such oversight could include ordering national agencies to conduct more tests. It also might enable the EC to levy fines directly against carmakers or apply sanctions to manufacturers and laggardly regulatory agencies.

The move was sparked by Volkswagen AG’s diesel scandal involving some 11 million vehicles it rigged to elude emission tests. The cheating, which included 8.5 million cars sold in Europe, was exposed in the U.S., not Europe. FT points out that many European regulatory agencies are still deciding whether VW’s cheater devices are illegal under European law.

The commission tells the newspaper it is considering a U.S.-like rule that would require carmakers to identify and describe the operation of all emission controls they use.

The EC also is likely to confront the obvious conflict of interest in Europe’s current emission-testing structure, in which carmakers help fund the facilities that test their vehicles. FT says the commission is likely to push for more random checks to confirm a car’s lab results more closely match its on-the-road emissions.