Leaders | Road outrage

To stop carmakers bending the rules on emissions, Europe must get much tougher

Europe should follow America in taking a hard line on regulating car emissions

AMERICA’S system of corporate justice has many flaws. The size of the fines it slaps on firms is arbitrary. Its habitual use of deferred-prosecution agreements (a practice that is spreading to Britain; this week Rolls-Royce, an engineering firm, was fined for bribery—see article) means that too many cases are settled rather than thrashed out in court. But even crude justice can be better than none. To see why, look at Europe’s flaccid approach to the emissions scandal that engulfed Volkswagen (VW) in 2015 and now threatens others.

Diesel-engined vehicles belch out poisonous nitrogen-oxide (NOx) gases. Limits have been imposed around the world on these toxic fumes. But the extra cost of making engines compliant, and the adverse impact that this has on performance and fuel efficiency, tempt carmakers to flout the rules. That is easier to get away with in Europe than in America, where the regulations are tighter and enforcement is more rigorous.

American agencies were the ones to uncover VW’s use of a “defeat device”, a bit of software that reduced NOx emissions when its cars were being officially tested, and turned itself off on the roads. The German carmaker faces a bill of over $20bn in penalties and costs; six of its executives were indicted by the Department of Justice this month. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is the latest carmaker to fall foul of American enforcers. On January 12th the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accused the firm, whose chairman is a director of The Economist’s parent company, of using software to manipulate measured NOx emissions on 104,000 vehicles. The agency stopped short of calling the software a “defeat device”, but FCA, which denies any wrongdoing, must convince the EPA that it is acting within the rules (see article).

A gargantuan grey area

Life is much easier in Europe, where the regulations are pliable to the point of meaninglessness. The gentle motoring required in official emissions tests is far removed from the revving and braking of real driving. Tests are also conducted at high temperatures, at which cars perform better. On the road, emission controls in some cars turn off at temperatures of 17°C and below, ostensibly to protect the engine from the chill. (In America there is also a recognition that there should be a cold-start exemption, but it kicks in below 3°C.) Some cars spew up to 15 times more noxious gases on the road than under test conditions. Damningly, VW felt able to conclude that, under the European emissions regime, it had done nothing wrong.

Even if the rules were tighter, enforcement would be a problem. Diesel-engined vehicles, which make up around half the traffic on the continent’s roads, are central to the financial health of many European carmakers. That gives the national agencies which conduct tests a reason to look the other way. Another incentive lies in the battle against climate change, because complying with NOx emissions regulation adds to costs. In the hugely competitive market for small cars, a higher price can steer consumers towards petrol cars, which are less efficient than diesel engines and hence produce more carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas.

Neither is a good reason to avoid getting much tougher. It is true that Europe’s carmakers have more at stake than America’s. But so do Europe’s citizens. NOx emissions cause the premature deaths of an estimated 72,000 Europeans a year. And one way or another, Europe’s love affair with diesel is souring. This week the city of Oslo used new powers to ban diesel cars temporarily in order to improve air quality. Paris, Madrid and Athens are set to ban diesels altogether by 2025. The falling cost of battery-powered cars may offer a greener alternative.

Europe is getting stricter. A new test that better mirrors driving conditions on real roads will start to be rolled out later this year. To reduce the risk of manipulated results, regulators will examine vehicles on the road as well as under test conditions. But EU member states have already won an exemption, meaning that NOx emissions will be allowed to exceed the official test limit for years. And the tests will still be conducted by national agencies. The exemption should go. To beef up enforcement, Europe should hand more oversight to the EU. For the sake of Europeans’ lungs, it is past time to get tough.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "Road outrage"

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