LUXEMBOURG (CN) — The European Union’s highest court has hit the brakes on challenges to vehicle emissions exemptions brought by the cities of Brussels, Paris and Madrid.
The European Court of Justice found on Thursday that the capital cities don’t have standing to object to a European Commission decision to allow vehicles to exceed nitrogen oxide pollution limits while transitioning to new standards set in the wake of the Volkswagen Dieselgate scandal.
The trio complained to the Luxembourg-based court after the commission, the EU’s executive body, gave in to industry pressure in 2016 and allowed vehicles to break limits during so-called real driving emissions, or RDE, tests.
Thursday's ruling overturns a 2018 decision by the European General Court, the EU's second-highest court, which found that bloc leaders set excessively high emissions limits. A 2021 opinion from an advocate general also sided with the cities, but the Courtof Justice's three-judge panel disagreed with their adviser.
“The applicants…contrary to what they claim, cannot be regarded as being directly concerned by the regulation at issue,” the ruling states. “Consequently, the actions for annulment brought by the city of Paris, the city of Brussels and the municipality of Madrid must be dismissed as inadmissible.”
The commission brought in the new standards after it was revealed in 2015 that German carmaker Volkswagen had been gaming emissions regulations by using devices that limited emissions produced by cars in laboratory settings. The EU wanted to ensure future standards were met in actual driving conditions, which led to the introduction of the RDE tests.
Initially, the commission set the limit at 80 milligrams of nitrogen oxide per kilometer, the so-called Euro 6 level set by the European Parliament. But after pressure from the auto industry, that cap was raised to 168 milligrams per kilometer until 2020. Manufacturers said measuring emissions in real-world conditions is tricky and more time was needed to develop accurate testing methods. However, industry groups and the EU have so far been unable to agree on a process.
The European Environmental Agency cites air pollution as the biggest environmental health risk in Europe. Vehicle emissions are the primary sources of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that can cause respiratory problems, including lung disease and cancer, in addition to harming the environment. The agency estimates that some 300,000 people die prematurely every year from exposure to air pollution.
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