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According to Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, the new rules, which will apply from 1 September, will ensure cleaner and safer mobility, restore consumer confidence and ensure the long-term viability and global competitiveness of the European car industry.
The new framework will improve the control of vehicles already on the market and offered for sale. Technical services that test and inspect new types of vehicles will be subject to independent inspections based on strict criteria. From now on, Member States will have to regularly inspect a certain number of vehicles, in which case they can take action against non-compliant vehicles without the involvement of the type-approval authority.
The European Commission has received a substantive weapon
Furthermore, the European Commission can now carry out compliance checks, either in laboratories or on public roads. If a manufacturer infringes the type-approval legislation required for placing on the market, it can order the withdrawal of vehicles from the EU market and impose a fine of up to € 30,000 (approximately HUF 10 million) per vehicle on the manufacturer. Until now, such measures could only be taken by national authorities that originally approved the vehicle type, the EU commissioner said.
Of course, the fine of € 30,000 per vehicle in question is a staggeringly high amount and would be imposed on any car manufacturer, which would be very painful. It appears the decision-makers’ goal was to deter all players from manipulating car emissions and to prevent a diesel scandal like the one that broke out in 2015 from happening again.
It is also worth noting that this is a big step forward, as the previous regulation seemed like the legal framework had been set by the EU, but national authorities had to verify that car manufacturers were complying with the rules. Once a vehicle type is approved in one Member State, it can be freely marketed throughout the EU. In the event of non-compliance, only the national authority that granted homologation of the passenger vehicle could take corrective measures, such as ordering a recall and imposing an administrative penalty.
Has come a long way
Following the outbreak of the diesel scandal, the European Commission made serious efforts to prevent a similar situation from recurring, with a first substantive proposal on 27 January 2016 aimed at a comprehensive reform of the EU type-approval framework. The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission reached a political agreement on this proposal in December 2017, thus taking a major step towards:
- Raise the level of homologation and testing of passenger cars before marketing them and increase their independence.
- Increase controls on passenger cars already on the EU market
- And strengthen the European supervisory system on national authorities
Cover Image Source: Alex Kraus / Bloomberg via Getty Images
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