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Decision on setting up a committee of inquiry into emission measurements in the automotive sector, its powers, numerical strength and term of office

2015/3037(RSO)

The European Parliament adopted by 354 votes to 229, with 35 abstentions, a decision on setting up a Committee of Inquiry into emission measurements in the automotive sector, its powers, numerical strength and term of office.

This decision is in response to the request presented by 283 Members for a committee of inquiry to be set up to investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to emission measurements in the automotive sector.

In its resolution of 27 October 2015 on emission measurements in the automotive sector, Parliament called for a thorough investigation regarding the role and responsibility of the Commission and of Member States’ authorities, bearing in mind, inter alia, the problems established in the 2011 report of the Commission’s Joint Research Centre.

The Committee of Inquiry – composed of 45 members – shall investigate alleged contraventions and maladministration in the application of Union law in relation to emission measurements in the automotive sector.

The Committee of Inquiry shall investigate the alleged failure of:

  • the Commission to comply with the obligation imposed by Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 to keep under review the test cycles used to measure emissions and to adapt them, if they are no longer adequate or no longer reflect real world emissions, so as to adequately reflect the emissions generated by real driving on the road, despite information relating to serious and persistent exceedances of the emissions limit values for vehicles in normal use;
  • the Commission and the Member States’ authorities to take proper and effective action to oversee the enforcement of, and to enforce, the explicit ban on defeat devices;
  • the Commission to introduce tests reflecting real-world driving conditions in a timely manner and to adopt measures addressing the use of defeat mechanisms;
  • Member States to lay down provisions on effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties applicable to manufacturers for infringements of the provisions of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007, including the use of defeat devices, the refusal to provide access to information, and the falsification of test results for type-approval or in-service conformity.

The Committee of Inquiry shall collect and analyse information to ascertain whether the Commission and the Member States:

  • had evidence of the use of defeat mechanisms before the Notice of Violation issued by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America on 18 September 2015;
  • had evidence of defeat devices being used for CO2 emissions tests.

The Committee of Inquiry shall present an interim report within six months of starting its work and shall submit its final report within 12 months of starting its work.