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EU Backs Tougher Rules on Emission Testing

The European Parliament has backed a bill that would give the EU more oversight of emission testing and certification procedures.
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The European Parliament has backed a bill that would give the EU more oversight of emission testing and certification procedures.

The measure was prompted by Volkswagen AG’s diesel emission cheating scandal and the continuing probe into possible wrongdoing by other manufacturers.

The new regulation would replace the region’s current system, in which EU member countries are responsible for policing their own local carmakers, with centralized oversight. But the law stops short of creating a single EU regulatory office akin to the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S.

The measure would end the current practice of allowing carmakers to directly pay labs to certify emission levels for their own cars. Instead, manufacturers would pay fees into a pool used to fund independent tests. The EU also would conduct its own spot-checks of emission levels and be allowed to impose fines as great as €30,000 ($32,000) for noncompliant models.

Reuters notes that the proposed law awaits negotiations among EU members and the European Commission.

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