Resoconto integrale delle discussioni

Lunedì 25 marzo 2019 - Strasburgo

18. Recenti sviluppi dello scandalo Dieselgate (discussione)

  La Présidente. – L’ordre du jour appelle le débat sur la déclaration de la Commission sur les développements récents du Dieselgate (2019/2670(RSP)).

  Miguel Arias Cañete, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, three and a half years have passed since Dieselgate broke out. In this time, we learned that European vehicle manufacturers have violated the EU rules on vehicle pollutant emissions. This has been detrimental in many respects. It has affected the air quality and the health of EU citizens, it has affected the trust of EU consumers in EU industry, and it has affected confidence in the whole EU regulatory framework on vehicles.

Together with the European Parliament and the Council, the Commission has spared no efforts to put an end to this scandal, to restore confidence and to avoid any repetition in the future. A lot has already been achieved. In May 2018, we put in place a more efficient regulatory framework that guarantees greater independence and transparency of vehicle type-approval. This will inter alia allow for EU fines, EU—wide recalls and EU testing of vehicles. We have also introduced more accurate testing for NOx emissions with the Real—Driving Emissions (RDE) test procedure. This procedure gives a more realistic picture of actual pollutant emissions on the road, and it also contributes to the effective reduction of these emissions. Let me give a simple example. Thanks to RDE, diesel cars now emit on average 40 mg of NOx per km. Before RDE, these emissions were on average 700 to 800 mg per km in real driving conditions. We now have one of the most effective emission regulatory systems anywhere in the world.

The procedure to measure CO2 emissions more accurately has also been modernised, with the adoption of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). This allows EU consumers to obtain realistic information on the fuel consumption of vehicles. Both RDE and WLTP are new tests that will be constantly reviewed and adapted where necessary.

The Commission has also launched eight infringement procedures against Member States for a violation of the EU type—approval rules since December 2016. Six are still ongoing. They have already resulted in legislative changes and enforcement action in the Member States concerned. In February 2018, the Commission set up a platform in which Member States share the information on recalls of vehicles affected by Dieselgate. Based on this information, the Commission publishes regular updates on the state of play of recalls. So far, the Commission has no legal power to impose mandatory recalls. This still remains the responsibility of the Member States, which are bound to supervise the manufacturers and ensure that recall measures are effectively implemented.

As of 1 September 2020, the new Type-Approval Framework Regulation will allow for EU fines, EU-wide recalls and EU testing. For the time being, there is no comprehensive information on the effects of recalls on air quality. What is certain is that there are still about two million cars on European roads that require updating, and many of these cars are being sold to Central and Eastern Europe. We are moving our air quality problems from West to East.

Some of the new rules put in place by the Commission have been challenged before the General Court. This is notably the case of one of the Commission regulations setting up the RDE procedures, and in particular, the so-called conformity factors used in this procedure. These conformity factors are necessary to reflect the statistical uncertainty linked with the new test procedure, as well as the margin of error of the portable measuring equipment.

Last December, the General Court ruled that the Commission went beyond its powers when adopting these conformity factors. I want to inform you that the Commission has appealed that judgment. Germany and Hungary also appealed. The Commission is convinced that it did not go beyond its powers. These conformity factors are mere technical requirements that have no bearing on the emissions limits set by the co—legislators. Of course, at the same time I cannot guarantee what will be the outcome of this appeal.

This is why the Commission is preparing a proposal, scheduled for adoption in April. The Commission will propose to the co-legislators the adoption of those conformity factors. They should also empower the Commission to lower the second factor as soon as technical progress allows. We have already done that once. So Parliament will now have the opportunity to set the conformity factors together with the Council. This is good news for you.

To sum up, as acknowledged by the European Court of Auditors in its recent briefing paper on the EU’s response to the Dieselgate scandal: ‘The emissions scandal has accelerated many legislative changes to the EU system of vehicle emissions checks’. The European Court of Auditors also underlined that more could be done, and that it would take some time before the legislative changes have an impact on air quality.

Because deeds are better than words, together with the help of Member States, the Commission has prepared a ‘Roadmap towards clean vehicles’. It sets out benchmarks and tools for making sure that we will never have to go through a similar story again. The Commission presented the Roadmap on Monday, 18 March 2019, at the Automotive Industry Forum in Craiova. It demonstrates what the Commission is committed to. The Commission will ensure that the commitments made in the Roadmap are fulfilled, and it expects nothing less from the industry and the Member States.

Let me also finish on a more positive note. We need to look at the future, and we spare no effort in this respect. We already have ambitious targets for CO2 reduction. We are about to adopt a major initiative to increase road safety and save lives, the General Safety Regulation, and we have to prepare for the revolution of connected and automated vehicles.

  Christine Revault d’Allonnes Bonnefoy, au nom du groupe S&D. – Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Commissaire, tout d’abord, je regrette que ce ne soit pas Mme Bieńkowska qui soit devant nous pour parler de ce fameux facteur de conformité puisque c’est avec elle que nous avons sans cesse débattu et je suis extrêmement étonnée par votre discours, très satisfait, sur les actions qui auraient été mises en place par la Commission depuis le scandale du diesel.

Tout d’abord, revenons sur ce facteur de conformité très élastique appliqué par la Commission dans le paquet sur les tests en conditions réelles et qui a pourtant été annulé par la Cour de justice, décision qui, malheureusement, a été contestée à la fois par certains États, mais aussi par la Commission. Si la Cour avait annulé l’acte d’exécution, c’est parce que ce facteur de conformité allait à l’encontre des normes Euro VI sur les valeurs de dioxyde d’azote, soit les normes qui déterminent les seuils d’émissions des véhicules. Pourtant, le 20 février dernier, quand elle est venue devant la commission des transports et du tourisme, face aux députés de la commission EMIS, Mme Bieńkowska avait annoncé que la Commission allait remettre sur la table ce même facteur de conformité dépassant la référence légale de 110 %, puis de 50 % d’ici 2021. Je ne peux cacher ma stupéfaction. Donner aux constructeurs un droit à polluer avec une telle marge de tolérance est une insulte à ce Parlement et, surtout, met gravement en danger l’air que nous respirons.

Si la Commission présente une telle proposition, nous ne pourrons que la rejeter. Les constructeurs doivent prendre leurs responsabilités et rappeler tous les véhicules qui ne sont pas conformes à la norme Euro VI.

Je constate amèrement que la Commission tente de gagner du temps en se lançant dans une bataille juridique avec la Cour de justice. Ce temps gagné pour la Commission, c’est du temps perdu pour la planète, or nous n’avons plus une seconde à perdre et nous n’avons pas de planète de rechange.

Des millions de citoyens européens descendent dans la rue toutes les semaines pour réclamer que nous, décideurs politiques, agissions contre la pollution avec la plus haute urgence. La situation est particulièrement critique pour les habitants des grandes villes européennes qui étouffent avec ces émissions de dioxyde d’azote, mais il n’y a pas que les dioxydes d’azote. L’OMS a établi un seuil de particules fines à ne pas dépasser plus de trois jours par an. Saviez-vous qu’à Paris, nous en sommes déjà à 19 jours de dépassement? L’année 2019 sera probablement la pire concernant la pollution de l’air, mais cette situation n’a rien d’inédit et il n’y a toujours pas de suite aux procédures d’infraction engagées par la Commission contre les États, ni de la part des États, ni de la part de de la Commission.

  Mark Demesmaeker, namens de ECR-Fractie. – Voorzitter, een tweede dieselgateschandaal voorkomen, dat is wat we wilden met een reeks aanbevelingen van onze onderzoekscommissie. Ik was zelf ondervoorzitter van die commissie en ik blijf de zaak opvolgen. Ik moet bekennen: het is lente, maar er is nog veel werk aan de winkel voor we kunnen oogsten. Commissaris Bieńkowska zei onlangs dat dieselgate nog niet afgelopen is, en ook een recente briefing van de Europese Rekenkamer is weinig geruststellend. Kranten kopten: tweede dieselgate is mogelijk. Wel, ik vind het moeilijk te begrijpen dat men blijkbaar niet of zeker onvoldoende leert van de fouten. Neem nu inderdaad de versoepeling van de stikstofnorm. In 2016 werd die ingevoerd en werd het invoeren van praktijktesten op de weg liever gekoppeld aan een afzwakking van die bestaande norm. We hebben tegen die versoepeling gestemd, want alle technologie is beschikbaar om de stikstofnorm in acht te nemen, ook in reële rijomstandigheden en zonder een negatieve impact op de CO2-uitstoot. Het Europees Hof van Justitie oordeelt dat de versoepeling van de stikstofnorm de facto illegaal is, en wat doet de Commissie? Zij gaat in beroep. Goede luchtkwaliteit belangt iedereen aan. De technologie is beschikbaar, wat houdt de Commissie tegen?

  Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Madam President, there are two points I would like to make tonight. The first is that Parliament never really received a proper response from the Commission to the committee of inquiry. Yes, we did receive a response from Commissioner Bieńkowska, but that was only on the recommendations, not the conclusions. And on some elements she wrote that it was the prerogative of the President of the Commission, so she couldn’t answer. That’s a bit weird if we consider the Commission a college. So this goes beyond air quality. This is also a matter of democratic accountability, and I certainly demand from the Commission before the end of this mandate a full and proper response to our inquiry conclusions and recommendations.

The second point I would like to make is that we never cleaned up the mess of Dieselgate. We did come up with new legislation but there are still millions of fraudulent diesel cars being driven around European cities, and what we need is a very strong coordinated European approach. At the moment it is left to the Member States, and what we see happening is that individual Member States take measures in such a way that they might get rid of those cars in their own country, but they will be exported to other European countries. So it remains a European problem, and the effects on millions of European citizens are not being taken seriously.

The only institution that can play that role, that can come up with a very strong coordinated European approach, is the Commission. So please, Commissioner, take this seriously and organise a huge summit with all Member States to get these cars off the road and force European car manufacturers to take back these cars and make them comply with European legislation through both software and hardware updates.

  Bas Eickhout, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, Commissioner, I think I will indeed just join the dissatisfaction of the Members here. We of course know that there have been improvements – we’ve been working on them – but there’s still a lot of issues that have not been solved. What my colleague Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy said – that there are still cars running on the streets, heavily polluting, knowing that they are just dieselgate cars, and that the Commission is not even taking action in getting Member States together on that – is really concerning.

What I would also like to add to that is a question. We know that there are a couple of infringement cases (by the way, Commissioner Bieńkowska always promised there will be more infringement cases – that was in the heat of the debate). Was that just to calm Parliament down? Was that just not telling the truth? Or are there still more infringement cases in the pipeline, and where are the others standing?

And the last point. We have cases with the Ombudsman. We want more transparency also on the technical working groups. Also here, the Commission is refusing to give the minutes of technical meetings. We really need them, all the more so because otherwise it just feels that the Commission keeps on protecting Member States and covering up their bad positions.

  Merja Kyllönen, GUE/NGL-ryhmän puolesta. – Arvoisa puhemies, hyvät kollegat, meillä on vakava peiliin katsomisen paikka myös kuluttajansuojan ja kansalaisten oikeusturvan näkökulmasta.

Kun olen kiertänyt eri paikoissa keskustelemassa ihmisten kanssa, he kysyvät hyvinkin asiallisen kysymyksen siitä, mitä he voivat tehdä ilmastonmuutoksen torjumiseksi, päästöjen vähentämiseksi, hiukkaspäästöjen vähentämiseksi, ja varsinkin diesel-ajoneuvojen omistajat kysyvät, mikä on heidän oikeusturvansa, kun he ovat hyvässä uskossa hankkineet näitä ajoneuvoja ja sitten totuus on ollutkin toisenlainen näiden varsinkin ajoaikaisten päästöjen osalta.

Eli ei ole kyse vain siitä, miltä meidän lainsäädäntömme näyttää, miltä meidän toimemme näyttävät, ovatko ne riittäviä, vaan myös siitä, mikä on kuluttajien luottamus niihin tuotteisiin, joita valmistetaan ja jotka me hyväksymme lainsäädännön kautta. Sen vuoksi näkisinkin, että meidän on laajemmin mietittävä koko polttomoottoritekniikkaa, koko dieselajoneuvojen tulevaisuutta, ja sitä, miten niitä voidaan korvata ja miten voidaan varmistaa, että myös jätteistä ja tähteistä tehty biodiesel pääsisi markkinoille, kun siinäkin näyttää olevan hankaluuksia.

Eli meillä on paljon isoja kysymyksiä, jotka kaipaavat vastauksia – ei pelkästään se, että dieselgaten jälkeen työ näyttää jäävän puolitiehen. Meillä on aidosti hyvin paljon korjattavia asioita, jotka pitää laittaa järjestykseen niin meidän lainsäädännössämme kuin myös luottamuksessa kansalaisiin päin.

  Eleonora Evi, a nome del gruppo EFDD. – Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, a due anni dalla nostra commissione d'inchiesta, che ha cercato di far luce sullo scandalo dieselgate, immobilismo e inefficacia sono le parole che meglio descrivono il seguito dato dalla Commissione europea, dagli Stati membri e dalle case automobilistiche allo scandalo delle emissioni.

È vero: ora abbiamo nuove regole sull'omologazione dei veicoli, basate su una sorveglianza del mercato più serrata, e stiamo lavorando al risarcimento collettivo europeo, che spero potrà tutelare i cittadini da qualsiasi futuro scandalo causato dall'impiego illegittimo di strategie di manipolazione delle emissioni.

Ma la verità è che il dieselgate pesa come un macigno, perché la sua eredità è ancora tutta da affrontare. Fino a quando i 43 milioni di veicoli diesel sporchi rimarranno in circolazione a causa della mancanza di richiami obbligatori in tutta Europa, finché i costruttori non avranno pagato per aver frodato i cittadini e per aver appestato l'aria che respiriamo nelle nostre città, non potremo scrivere la parola fine allo scandalo sulle emissioni.

Perciò oggi pretendiamo che la Commissione e i governi europei si assumano in pieno le proprie responsabilità davanti ai cittadini che, come noi, stanno aspettando quella risposta esaustiva, mai arrivata, al lavoro svolto dalla commissione d'inchiesta EMIS. Milioni di persone ci chiedono di ritirare i veicoli più inquinanti e si domandano se l'Europa avrà il coraggio di chiedere ai costruttori di sostenere, ad esempio, i costi dei programmi di retrofitting.

  Christel Schaldemose (S&D). – Fru formand! Jeg føler lidt det samme, som mine kolleger her i salen også har givet udtryk for: Jeg kan simpelthen ikke forstå, at Kommissionen kan rose sig selv for det arbejde, der er gjort. Det undrer mig, at man kan være så tilfreds med det. Ja, vi har fået nye regler, og ja, det er godt, vi fik dem, og at de kommer til at gælde fra 2020. Men det store problem er, at der stadigvæk kører flere millioner forurenende dieselbiler rundt på de europæiske veje. Rigtig mange af vores medlemslande har end ikke sikret, at de biler, som ikke overholder reglerne, bliver tilbagekaldt og repareret! Det kan da ikke være rigtigt, at vi ikke kan få det til at fungere. Jeg tror, det er cirka tyve af vores medlemslande, som ikke efterlever disse regler. Det er et kæmpe problem!

Problemet med disse dieselbiler er, at de forurener - de skader miljøet og de skader folks sundhed. Vi ved det, og vi ved, hvilke biler det drejer sig om. Jeg kan derfor ikke begribe, at Kommissionen kan være tilfreds med det, der er sket, når der stadig kører så mange af disse biler rundt. Der må kunne gøres noget for at sikre, at medlemslandene gør noget - og fremadrettet bliver vi også nødt til at sikre, at der gøres noget! Det skal da være obligatorisk at tilbagekalde biler, hvis der opstår problemer. Derudover skal vi i øvrigt sikre os, at de efter at være blevet justeret og rettet til, bliver testet uafhængig, så vi kan være sikre på, at de overholder reglerne.

Som det også er blevet sagt, så skal vi have langt mere gennemsigtighed om dette på teknisk niveau. Det skal være muligt for NGO’er og andre at være med til at kontrollere, om de regler, vi har, bliver overholdt. Det er altså enormt vigtigt, at vi sikrer, at også den eksisterende bilpark i Europa bliver renere. Det er vigtigt for folkesundheden, og det er vigtigt for vores miljø og for vores klima. Derudover skal vi i øvrigt forhindre, at disse forurenende biler bliver solgt videre til Østeuropa, hvor de måske ikke har så mange penge og derfor kan blive fristet til at købe dem. Det er da ikke rimeligt, at de så skal leve med disse miljøkonsekvenser. Vi har brug for, at Kommissionen handler nu. Det kan ikke gå hurtigt nok!

  Kosma Złotowski (ECR). – Pani Przewodnicząca! Afera Dieselgate była ewidentnym skandalem. Niestety koncerny motoryzacyjne nie wzięły na siebie wszystkich kosztów. To klienci zostali zostawieni często sami sobie i na drodze pozwów zbiorowych próbują dochodzić roszczeń za wadliwe samochody, które im sprzedano. Jednak walka z nieuczciwymi producentami nie może oznaczać walki z posiadaczami samochodów z silnikiem Diesla w ogóle. Przez wiele lat kierowcom wmawiano, że nowoczesne diesle są ekologiczne i trwałe. Kupili te samochody, a dzisiaj poprzez zakazy wjazdu do miast stawia się ich pod ścianą. Nie tędy droga. Walka o czyste powietrze w miastach nie może odbywać się kosztem ich mieszkańców czy osób dojeżdżających do pracy, a koszty tych zakazów nie mogą spadać na osoby najmniej zamożne. Także w trosce o środowisko należy zachować zdrowy rozsądek.

  Karima Delli (Verts/ALE). – Madame la Présidente, mes chers collègues, bientôt quatre ans que le scandale du Dieselgate a éclaté. Au total, c’est plus de 30 millions de véhicules diesel qui polluaient au-delà de la limite autorisée.

Ce Parlement même a créé une commission d’enquête, a fait des recommandations, toutes restées sans réponse. Et maintenant, nous subissons la pollution de l’air sans réagir, nous laissons les voitures poubelles sur nos routes, nous laissons les consommateurs floués sans réparation. Et la Commission, plutôt que de répondre à ces urgences, préfère dire au constructeur: vous ne savez pas respecter les normes, ce n’est pas grave, continuez de polluer. Mais on rêve!

Ce que nous demandons, c’est de tirer les leçons du Dieselgate et d’appliquer nos recommandations. Nous, nous avons choisi la santé des citoyens contre les intérêts des constructeurs. Et vous, pour qui roulez-vous? Alors, trêve de discours, désormais place à l’action!

  Miguel Arias Cañete, Member of the Commission. – Madam President, thank you very much for tonight’s debate. I found all your questions and comments to be very pertinent.

Many of you have referred to the infringement procedures concerning the follow-up to Dieselgate. In 2016, the Commission opened 18 infringement procedures against Germany, Spain, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Greece, the UK, the Czech Republic and Italy, which had either failed to impose fines on car manufacturers for breaking European Union rules or did not fully implement international legislative sanctions on car manufacturers breaking European Union emission rules.

In 2017 and 2018, the Commission sent complementary letters of formal notice to Germany, Luxembourg, Spain and the UK to request further information. A letter of formal notice was also sent to Italy regarding the emission control strategy used by Fiat 500x Euro 6 diesel model.

The information received from the Member States so far is neither fully satisfactory nor complete, and in addition, new cases of emission irregularities are being reported. The Commission will continue to follow up these cases.

Some of you also have referred to the recalls. Our Recall Information Platform was launched on 6 February 2018, and almost all Member States are regularly updating the information on mandatory and voluntary recalls and the results of this platform are public.

Today, only eight Member States have issued a mandatory recall for vehicles of the VW group with illegal defeat devices. Those are Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Portugal and Slovenia. In the European Union, the wide recall rate of the affected VW models, equipped with the EA189 engine, is at 80% as of 18 March 2019. Unfortunately, in some Member States, there are still recall rates below 50%.

Our overall objective is to reach a 100% recall rate and as our first step, as announced in Craiova (Romania) in the Roadmap towards clean vehicles, a minimum European Union-wide recall rate of 90% should be reached by the end of 2019.

You can be sure that the Commission is committed to making sure that we get to the bottom of Dieselgate. The Member States and industry must take all measures still necessary in order to be able to close the Dieselgate chapter.

We will continue working on the implementing rules for the type-approval framework. We will make sure that the emission rules continue to be fit for purpose. We will also be vigilant regarding the implementation of the new rules and offer all the support the Member States need to put new market surveillance rules in place.

But it has to be stressed that implementation and enforcement is primarily the responsibility of the Member States themselves, as is the recalling of non-compliant cars from circulation and fixing them.

So yes, there is still work to be done and we expect all the parties – Member States and industry – to work together in order to be able to turn the page. We count on the continued support and engagement of the European Parliament to achieve this goal.

  La Présidente. – Le débat est clos.

Le vote aura lieu jeudi, le 28 mars 2019.

Déclarations écrites (article 162)

  Nicola Caputo (S&D), per iscritto. – "Dopo quasi due anni dalla fine lavori della commissione di inchiesta del Parlamento europeo sullo scandalo Dieselgate (EMIS), non si è fatto abbastanza per togliere dalla strada milioni di auto diesel che inquinano più di quanto dichiarato da costruttori e autorità di omologazione". A riportarlo chiaramente è la Corte dei conti, nel documento di riflessione dello scorso febbraio intitolato "La risposta dell'UE allo scandalo Dieselgate". Dopo la decisione della Commissione di avviare procedure di infrazione contro la Germania, il Lussemburgo, il Regno Unito e l'Italia, non si è registrato un progresso della procedura oltre la prima fase, dal momento che gli Stati membri hanno deciso di non cooperare in modo sincero con la Commissione e non si comprende il motivo per cui, nonostante l'elevato numero di veicoli fortemente inquinanti in circolazione, le campagne di richiamo degli Stati membri riguardano solo un numero limitato di autoveicoli fabbricati dai seguenti marchi: Volkswagen, Renault, Daimler, Opel e Suzuki. Gli occhi del mondo sono puntati sull'Unione europea, in qualità di leader mondiale nella lotta al cambiamento climatico. La nostra credibilità dipende dalle risposte che siamo in grado di dare.

  Carolina Punset (ALDE), por escrito. – En los Estados Unidos, estafados por el dieselgate han devuelto millones de vehículos y cobrado indemnizaciones. En Europa, origen del fraude, las marcas implicadas no han retirado ni un coche o pagado un euro, gracias al escudo protector de las instituciones. Fue vergonzoso ver como ante sentencias judiciales prohibiendo la circulación del diésel, la comisaria de Transporte, espoleada por el sector saliera en su socorro criticando estos fallos, o como la comisaria de Comercio envió un simple tirón de orejas al sector mediante una carta. En pago a este amparo desmesurado, los constructores montan factorías en China o India, y recientes declaraciones de directivos advierten de miles de despidos por culpa del coche eléctrico. Por suerte, la electrificación del transporte es imparable. Por desgracia para el sector europeo, la práctica totalidad de coches eléctricos vendidos en el mundo se fabrican fuera de la UE. Si los esfuerzos y recursos destinados a engañar y contaminar se hubieran enfocado en tecnologías del futuro, a los constructores europeos no les hubieran robado su queso. Mientras, circularán durante años o décadas millones vehículos que emiten hasta 12 veces más GEI que su etiquetado sin que autoridades que deben proteger nuestras salud y medioambiente hagan nada.

  Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (ALDE). – Madam President, I have a point of order. The Commission did not answer my question on why it did not respond to all the recommendations and conclusions of the inquiry committee. I’m not asking the Commissioner to respond to that immediately, but maybe you can, as President, ask the Commission to come back to that in writing as soon as possible, preferably still this week so that we can take action.

  La Présidente. – Merci de ce conseil, Monsieur Gerbrandy. C’est effectivement ce que nous allons demander à la Commission.