| Author (Person) | Böhm, Steffen, Colbeck, Ian |
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| Series Title | The Conversation |
| Series Details | 24.09.15 |
| Publication Date | 24/09/2015 |
| Content Type | Journal | Series | Blog |
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The Volkswagen emissions investigation in September 2015 looks set to be of one of the biggest corporate scandals in recent history. While most of the focus will be on VW in the coming days and weeks, the real scandal lies elsewhere: with European governments and regulators who turned a blind eye to rule-bending. In some cases they’ve actually helped carmakers avoid environmental restrictions. Documents leaked to the Guardian reveal just four months ago the UK, France and Germany all lobbied to maintain loopholes from outdated car emissions tests. Such behaviour isn’t unusual. For decades European car industry regulation has been weak and inconsistent, while car traffic and the resulting air pollution levels have been allowed to increase manifold. Transport & Environment said on the 24 September 2015 'The VW scandal in the US, and what will follow in Europe as more evidence emerges, demonstrates the entire system of testing vehicles is not fit for purpose. What is needed is a truly independent EU Type Approval Authority funded by a levy of €20 on every vehicle sold. This would be remarkably cost effective – last year over 500,000 people died prematurely from air pollution in Europe, many the result of high diesel nitrogen oxide emissions. The cost was almost €1 trillion. The scandal of VW using defeat devices in the US is just the tip of the iceberg and the European Commission needs to get a grip on the problem'. |
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| Source Link | https://theconversation.com/we-keep-choosing-cars-over-clean-air-thats-the-real-scandal-48108 |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry, Mobility and Transport |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, Germany |
