EC to Sanction Countries that Don’t Prosecute Emission Cheating

The European Commission is preparing to take legal action against as many as seven EU member nations who haven’t responded to evidence that carmakers cheated on pollution tests, sources tell the Financial Times.

The EC says several countries have either failed to act on their own findings about cheating or did not apply established sanctions against known infractions, according to the report. It says the problem dates to 2007.

The EU imposes a single set of vehicle emission standards for its members. But certification and enforcement is left to each member state. As a first step toward encouraging more rigorous policing, the EC will send “letters of formal notice” to targeted countries that accuse them of failing to uphold EU law. The commission would then turn to European courts if the countries fail to respond.

Elzbieta Bienkowska, the EU’s industry commissioner, has been threatening since September to sanction EU member states for lax enforcement. She tells the FT she is increasingly frustrated with the lack of cooperation.

Some members, notably Germany and the U.K., complain that EU rules are too vague. Bienkowska insists the intent of the laws are clear, but she believes broad reforms are needed.

The EC has proposed steps to tighten emission testing procedures and begin spot checks to determine whether vehicles are in compliance. The commission wants to eliminate loopholes that have given diesel makers broad latitude in equipping diesels to shut off emission controls under certain operating conditions, ostensibly to protect the engine.