EU takes legal action against 7 nations over VW scandal

THE EUROPEAN Union started legal action on Thursday against seven countries including Germany and Britain for failing to police emissions test cheating by carmakers after the Volkswagen scandal.

Amid mounting frustration in Brussels over what it sees as governments colluding with the powerful car industry, the European Commission is wielding the biggest stick it has — potentially ending in court — to try to force nations to clamp down on diesel cars spewing healthharming pollution.

German officials — who say EU law is poorly framed — had been sceptical Brussels would take on the European Union’s leading power and by far its biggest carmaker at a time when the unity of the bloc is being challenged by eurosceptics and Britain’s vote to leave.

Thursday’s cases are a sign the European Union executive, under pressure from the European Parliament, is keen to prove its worth to voters.

Germany, Britain, Spain and Luxembourg stand accused of not imposing the same kind of penalties Volkswagen (VW) has faced in the United States over its use of illegal software to mask nitrogen oxides (NOX), blamed for respiratory illnesses and early deaths.

The Commission also accuses Berlin and London of refusing to share the details of suspicious findings revealed by national investigations into the “dieselgate” scandal - without which it cannot carry out a supervisory role.

“This goes far beyond Volkswagen,” said an European Union source, adding that officials had more cases planned in a drive to force cars spewing up to five times legal NOX limits off roads. VW declined to comment.

Thursday’s notice is the first step in what is known as infringement procedures, allowing the EU to ensure the bloc’s 28 nations abide by agreed European Union-wide regulations. Member states have two months to respond.

If they fail to do so satisfactorily, the EU may take them to the EU court in Luxembourg.