EU Wants VW to Compensate European Owners in Diesel Scandal

The EU’s industry commissioner has asked that Volkswagen AG compensate Europeans who own diesel-powered VW cars rigged to evade emission standards—just as the company is doing for its U.S. customers.

Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska made the request in a letter dated Jan. 15 to VW CEO Matthais Meuller, Reuters reports. 

The letter also demands VW provide a precise country-by-country count of affected vehicles, technical details about intended repairs, recall schedules for each market and an estimate of the impact of the repairs on nitrogen oxides emissions. VW indicated previously it will begin recalling cars in Europe this month and continue to do so through much of the year.

Last November VW offered 482,000 affected customers in the U.S. $1,000 (€913) each. The company says the American program helps compensate for delays in fixing the cars, the higher price of diesel fuel in the U.S. and the fact that customers had paid extra for what VW touted as “cleaner” vehicles.

VW said at the time it would not offer the same deal in Europe, where diesel fuel costs less than gasoline, diesels qualify for tax breaks and repairs to affected cars will begin sooner.