European Parliament’s Environment committee today decided its position on new Type Approval rules for motor vehicles.
In the aftermath of the diesel emissions scandal, the European Commission made new legislative proposals to ensure car manufacturers comply with all EU safety, environmental and production requirements.
This major overhaul of the so-called “EU type approval framework” updates rules that are more than a decade old. It should address shortcomings in the current legislation and ensure better enforcement across the single market.
Once agreed, these rules should make vehicle testing more independent and increase surveillance of cars already in circulation. The call for a new European Vehicles Surveillance Agency would ensure compliance verification and enforce proper oversight of testing at an EU level.
Speaking from Brussels Julie Girling, MEP for the South West and Gibraltar, said: “Today’s vote is a step in the right direction. Manufacturers and regulators knew for some time before the VW story broke about some of the discrepancies between approval and testing.
“Compliance and enforcement are key to the good functioning of the single market. Working together with colleagues from the Environment committee, we have adopted a robust opinion, emphatically backed by all political groups.
“I hope the lead internal market committee will take note of this and we can move forward to getting these rules in place as soon as possible. With the UK vote to leave the EU, it is imperative that we have a forum within which the UK has a voice and can contribute to a strong single market.”
ENDS
Note to editors: In January 2016 the European Commission tabled its proposal on new type approval rules.
More information on the proposal can be found here:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-16-167_en.htm
