Car manufacturers are not allowed to install equipment that influences CO2 emissions in test setups, the European Court of Justice has ruled. This provision also applies when a system protects the engine against wear. This ruling leaves little room for interpretation of the existing regulations.
In the case, the European Court is talking about ‘Company X’. Presumably this is Volkswagen. In a case filed in France regarding the diesel scandal, a preliminary question was posed to the European court regarding the definition of ‘cheating software’ or other equipment that can influence emissions. In that particular case, the issue was whether influencing the EGR valve in tests is also prohibited. The argument of the car manufacturer in question was that this form of manipulation would not be covered by the ban, because the partial deactivation of the EGR valve leads in practice to less wear on the engine.
The European court does not agree with this argument and states that influencing the emission measurements is also prohibited in this case. Protecting the engine against wear is therefore no excuse for manipulating CO2 emissions. With this ruling, the Court thus effectively states that any form of influencing the emission figures is against European law and that there are no grounds for justification. No car manufacturer is therefore allowed to influence emissions measurements in the future under the guise of preventing wear.
The ‘Dieselgate’ scandal has been running since 2015. The Volkswagen Group in particular was discredited, currently there are still numerous lawsuits against the car manufacturer from Wolfsburg and now also CEO Martin Winterkorn is in the dock. The affair has already cost the car manufacturer together more than € 30 billion.