Today the European Parliament backed new measures that will ensure that there is not another car emission scandal but it missed an opportunity to do more.

The European Parliament voted to back European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) Group, Daniel Dalton MEP’s, measures to ensure that vehicles continue to meet emissions and safety standards once out of the showroom.

Mr Dalton, who led the plan through the Parliament said: “Today’s vote will begin to restore confidence in our testing systems and in our car manufacturers.

“This new system replaces one which was at best patchy and at worst ineffective, allowing the car emissions scandal to be undetected for so long. Any manufacturer who wants to try and cheat the system are now very likely to be caught with the combination of these new measures, combined with the real driving emissions tests for new cars passed last year.”

The Parliament’s inquiry into the emissions scandal, whose proposals were also voted on today, however failed to take up the opportunity to do more. Instead of focusing on restoring consumer confidence they took the chance to push for more unnecessary powers to the EU.  

ECR shadow rapporteur, Hans-Olaf Henkel, said: “We were fundamentally opposed to the formation of the committee, because we were firmly convinced that the judiciary should investigate criminal incidents in the automobile sector and not politicians. 

“It was disappointing to see how MEPs from different groups protected EU legislators like the Commission, when they were concerned with their own mistakes regarding the vague wording of the laws, and how they then fiercely attacked the industry.”

"Together with my group I advocated the harmonisation of emission guidelines and testing procedures with the USA. The Americans are strict on NOx and we Europeans are strict on CO2 emissions. Thus, one would kill two birds with one done and do something good for fair competition and the environment."

Ends

Contact Cameron Smith
Press Officer, Conservative MEPs
cameron.j.smith@europarl.europa.eu
Mobile +44 7769 833 605

The ECR was created to take the EU in a new direction, according to the principles of our founding Prague Declaration. It is the third largest group in the European Parliament with 74 MEPs from 18 EU states.

For more information on the ECR, watch our promotional video at http://youtu.be/F5syQt1JuQI or visit our website: www.ecrgroup.eu