CITA at BEUC event and T&E parliamentary dinner
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (28 September 2016) CITA, represented by Mr G. Müller – CITA Policy Expert on Environmental Protection Systems, has taken part as speaker at the conference ‘Fitness check on the car sector in Europe- Vehicles testing and emission scandal’, hosted by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) and also at the Transport & Environment (T&E) parliamentary dinner in the same evening.
Besides CITA, speakers included representatives from the European Parliament, the DG Grow, the International Council on Clean Transportation, the Association for Emissions Control by Catalyst and the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association – ACEA.
During the two events, Mr G. Müller explained that the experiences made as Technical Services (TS) over the last years or even decades was ambivalent: on the one hand, the regulations and directives have been tightened, e. g. regarding the permitted thresholds for pollutants; on the other hand, the regulations offered more and more possibilities, or loopholes, to bypass a concrete rule, e. g. the temporarily switch off of the emission system during low temperatures to prevent damage to the engine.
At the same time, more and more trust was placed in the car manufacturers. They could, e. g., conduct some parts of the market surveillance program in-house, like the COP or the ISC, or some Member States abolished the tailpipe emission test during PTI and relied only on the OBD reading. Obviously, this leads to more freedom of action or interpretation of rules and finally maybe to the point of illegal behaviour.
To stop this development, an adoption of the current type approval procedure is necessary.
Therefore, CITA welcomes the proposed regulation of the European Commission. The future type-approval procedure must ensure that all vehicles placed on the market fulfil the legal and normative requirements.
During the day the discussion was also about the need of a new “mega authority” located at the commission for better enforcement. Moreover, the participants have wondered how to improve transparency and if the system in US would be better than in Europe.