The Netherlands unjustly let diesel junkers go free. Comes to that conclusion Follow The Money (FTM) after an analysis of an interpretation of the European Court of Justice of European emissions legislation.
In 2017, the then outgoing Minister of Infrastructure and the Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen (VVD) concluded that there was ‘no legal point of reference’ to tackle manufacturers who had installed ‘questionable quality’ emission filters in their diesel cars. At the time, the RDW stated that manufacturers deliberately stuck to older (cheaper) filter techniques as much as possible and prevented the engine from wearing out too quickly with cheating software. The result: much higher emissions when the diesel cars took to the road. The companies referred to an exemption clause from the European emissions regulations that allows the use of fraudulent software if it is necessary to protect the engine.
Schultz van Haegen disapproved of this course of action, but concluded that there was nothing she could do about it. And that would be unjustified. The “engine protection” exception clause can only be used to justify fraudulent software that prevents acute danger, the court said. And not to protect the engine against wear or aging because the components are of inferior quality.
In 2015, the so-called cheating software was first discovered at the Volkswagen Group. It turned out to be present in about 11 million cars and afterwards it turned out that this had been used for years. It led to ‘dieselgate’, in which various Volkswagen executives were fired and later prosecuted, the company had to recall and modify enormous numbers of cars and pay billions in fines. Later, fraudulent practices also came to light at other car manufacturers.