Type approval: EPP Group welcomes deal to fix Dieselgate loopholes

The EPP Group welcomes the agreement on the new rules of type approval and market surveillance agreed today by the European Parliament and the Council

“I am very pleased that after a year of joint efforts we have reached an agreement that will introduce the necessary changes to the introduction of new vehicles on the market. The public rightly expects a new functional system that will have the effective enforcement rules”, said Ivan Štefanec MEP, the EPP Group’s negotiator for the Type Approval Report.

The agreement that was reached today will make the current rules stronger by putting in place a European Commission audit system for national type approval authorities as well as the obligation for the Commission to organise and carry out tests of vehicles. The EPP Group strongly supports this new system instead of the initial push to create a new supervisory agency that would have only caused more red tape and delayed the new system's entry into force.

Currently, only the national authorities are responsible for assuring that a vehicle meets all the requirements before it enters the EU market as well checking the manufacturers' compliance with EU law. The new system will help to make sure that the so-called Dieselgate car emission scandal does not happen again, as it will be possible for the Commission to act independently in the case of any wrongdoings.