It is the expected hammer judgment of the ECJ in the emissions scandal. With a judgment of December 17, 2020, the European Court of Justice ruled in Case C-693/18 that shutdown devices for exhaust gas cleaning are generally not permitted and that exceptions are only possible to a very limited extent. “The verdict is not only made by VW, but also by many other manufacturers such as Daimler, BMW, Opel and others. The diesel scandal really gets going, because millions of diesel vehicles from different manufacturers probably have an inadmissible defeat device and the vehicle owners can take action, ”says lawyer Marcel Seifert, BRÜLLMANN lawyers.
Originally, the proceedings concerned the VW EA 189 engine, which had become known as a result of the diesel scandal.A French court wanted the ECJ to clarify on the one hand whether VW had used an inadmissible defeat device in the engine and, on the other hand, under what conditions a defeat device was used the exhaust gas cleaning may be permissible.
Switch-off devices are generally not permitted
The answer from the ECJ was clear. VW used an impermissible defeat device in the EA 189 engine. The BGH had already ruled this in May and ruled that VW had made itself liable for damages due to willful immoral damage.
However, the judgment of the ECJ goes a big step further. The judges ruled that defeat devices are fundamentally inadmissible and that exceptions are only permissible to a very limited extent. The court thus essentially followed the statements of Advocate General Eleanor Sharpston. In her application to fire on April 30, 2020, she made it clear that she considers defeat devices to be generally inadmissible if they lead to increased emissions in real road traffic.
Exceptions are only very limited and only possible if the device is necessary to protect the engine from damage or an accident and to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle. However, this only includes protecting the engine from immediate and sudden damage and not from longer-term effects such as depreciation or wear and tear.
Judgment also applies to Daimler, BMW, Opel, etc.
“This means that a whole range of shutdown devices such as thermal windows, rapid heating functions, coolant setpoint temperature control etc. are not permitted. Such features have been used by automakers almost across the board. The judgment also affects other manufacturers such as Daimler but also the VW EA 288 engine, the successor to the EA 189. Even the software update for the EA 189 is affected. Damaged car buyers now have the opportunity to enforce their claims, ”said lawyer Seifert.
The law firm BRÜLLMANN Rechtsanwälte is a cooperation partner of IG Dieselskandal and offers you a free initial assessment of your options. Contact us.
More information: https://bruellmann.de/abgasskandal
–
