The EC sues six European countries for the dirty air

The European Commission handed over to the EU Court France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania and the UK for lack of measures to ensure clean air. The EC noted that it had given 10 years to these countries to threat the air polutions and take measures against it. Today, the Commission has continued the proceedings by sending additional letters of formal notice to Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the UK for failing to comply with the vehicle type approval rules.
Altogether, there are pending infringement cases for 16 countries in the EU, including Bulgaria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Portugal, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia. For Bulgaria and Poland, the European Court found that they are violating EU law.
The EC has proposed today the introduction of air quality standards; national targets for reducing greenhouse gases; rules for these gases from major sources of pollution, for example from vehicles, energy and industry. To address the issue of vehicle pollution, the EC encourages a common approach to limiting access to urban areas.
The Commission is taking action to overcome the significant and persistent overrunning of two major pollutants that have an impact on health - nitrogen dioxide (from road traffic and industrial activity) and dust (from industry, domestic heating, traffic and agriculture ).
The EU vehicle endorsement legislation requires states to put in place systems of effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties that discourage car manufacturers from committing infringements. When a breach of legislation is committed, for example by using devices to reduce the effectiveness of control systems, measures such as withdrawals of the vehicles in question must be taken and penalties imposed.
In December 2016, the EC launched infringement proceedings against Germany, Luxembourg and the UK for Volkswagen cars, and today sent additional letters of formal notice asking for more information on national investigations and court proceedings on open violations. Following the discovery of new cases of driving irregularities in certain diesel cars (Porsche Cayenne, Volkswagen Tuareg and some Audi A6 and A7 models), the EC has requested information from Germany and Luxembourg on what measures and penalties are foreseen. In May last year, the European Commission launched infringement proceedings against Italy for failing to meet the EU vehicle approval requirements for Fiat-Chrysler vehicles. The Commission today asked for further details of the measures taken.