EU Reaches Deal to Tighten Safety, Emission Testing

The European Commission, European Parliament and EU council of legislatures have agreed that the EC should have power to independently audit the technical services EU members use to certify the safety and emissions of cars built within their borders.

Pending approval by the Parliament and legislatures, the new regulations would take effect on Sept. 1, 2020.

The approved plan would require EU members to conduct regular emission spot-checks on vehicles already on the road and report results publicly.

The plan also would give member nations authority to take immediate action on non-compliant vehicles in their territory. Currently, only the national authority that issued the original certification (Germany’s KBA, for example) is allowed to do so.

Eventually the plan would enable the EC to conduct its own vehicle checks independent of member states and could empower the commission to initiate EU-wide recalls. In the meantime, the EC will head a new enforcement team set up to bring a more uniform understanding at the member nation level of EU regulations.

The EC proposed the tougher regulatory oversight after Volkswagen AG’s diesel emission cheating scandal developed in the U.S. two years ago. European debate over how to handle the cheating in the EU have continued since then.