Up to 8.2 million vehicles could be affected in Germany: The European Commission is discussing limit values for older diesel vehicles, and in the most extreme case this could mean the decommissioning of Euro 5 and Euro 6 diesels. In Germany alone, 4.3 million Euro 5 diesel vehicles will still be registered in 2024.
In ongoing proceedings before the European Court of Justice, the EU Commission has changed its legal opinion regarding compliance with pollutant limits in such a way that the limits must now be complied with for every driving situation, i.e. even under absolute full load. Previously, this only applied under standardised, comparable test conditions. The change would mean that all Euro 5 and possibly also Euro 6 authorisations would be called into question.
This would mean that 8.2 million drivers of combustion cars in Germany would face having their vehicles taken out of service this year, warned Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing in an incendiary letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He called for "an end to the anti-car policy from Brussels. People need their cars and do not want to have them taken away from them. The EU Commission must act quickly now."
Soon no longer usable as a diesel? VW Passat Estate B7 (2010-2015)
The background to this are new procedures for measuring exhaust emissions, which the EU wants to change. In future, emissions values will no longer be measured in stationary test centres, but under real driving conditions. Wissing is urging von der Leyen to quickly amend the regulations that he considers "questionable" in order to clarify them before the decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The aim is to "avoid serious consequences for millions of affected citizens and the European economy."
According to Wissing, the consequences of the decision would "not only hit the automotive industry unprepared, but above all the citizens who have purchased and use such vehicles in reliance on the existing regulations."
"The EU Commission and its President seem determined to wage a veritable campaign against the car and individual mobility," he scolded. With their plans for the new procedure for measuring exhaust emissions, millions of diesel and petrol vehicles in Germany are now threatened with forced decommissioning.
Unfortunately, the CDU is once again showing its true colours here: "Before the election, it promised openness to technology in order to then push through a green ban policy. We cannot support that. In Berlin and Brussels, the FDP is in favour of a sensible transport policy that preserves people's freedom of choice."
The background to this is the test procedures for the approval of cars (type approvals) in the EU. Until 2017, the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), which measured under laboratory conditions whether the pollutant emissions complied with the limit values, was decisive for this.
However, it was not considered realistic in real driving conditions and was replaced by a new procedure (RDE). However, older Euro 5 or Euro 6 diesels are still registered and on the road according to the NEDC.
In a court case in Germany, which was referred to the ECJ, these authorisations were called into question. According to the Ministry of Transport, the Advocate General has also stated that the cars must also comply with the values outside of laboratory conditions.
A spokeswoman for the ADAC referred to the protection of existing vehicles in an interview with Tagesschau and considers discussions about the threat of decommissioning to be "inappropriate". The affected vehicles were duly registered at the time of commissioning. "In the opinion of ADAC lawyers, changes to the measurement procedure for the type approval of a vehicle at a later date cannot be applied retroactively." Against this background, an operating ban would be absurd.
Diesel division:
According to Wissing, testing a car's compliance with the limit values in every driving situation outside the test centres is "not feasible according to the current state of the art and would therefore represent an unrealisable retrospective requirement for vehicles currently on the road". Universal application of the limit values would have considerable consequences for the entire European Union, "because all Euro 5 authorisations would then be called into question". Consequences for parts of the Euro 6 fleet could not be ruled out either.
One solution could be to clarify the regulations in question. Mr Wissing suggested that the Commission and the Member States work out a corresponding amendment to the law "as quickly as possible".
Source: Tagesschau