Diesel Part 3 – Legal Position After Brexit
Thursday, 2. May 2019
Brexit will not diminish the emissions rules either, given the Government has said they will apply when the UK leaves the EU.
The rules have been called into question in the courts, however, with three cities – Brussels, Madrid and Paris – successfully challenging the provision allowing on-the-road emission limits to vary from those required in the laboratory.
The European Court of Justice ruled in their favour, saying that the European Commission (EC) had no power to weaken the emission limits.
The ruling meant the Commission needed to amend the RDE regulation to ensure that diesel vehicles actually emit less than 80mg/km during the on-the-road test.
The EC subsequently lodged an appeal against the ruling and is also preparing new legislation that will have the same effect as the law declared illegal by the courts in December.
Elzbieta Bienkowska, European Commissioner for industry, says that if the new legislation is adopted in time, the commission will withdraw the appeal. By Graham Hill (Thanks To Fleet News)
