BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Owners of vehicles fitted with so-called defeat devices can go to court to seek compensation from the manufacturer, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said on Thursday. on the sidelines of proceedings against Mercedes-Benz.
Defeat devices are mechanisms or software that can alter vehicle emission levels.
Their use has given rise to disputes over the willingness of automobile groups to hide the real levels of pollution from their vehicles. Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to using software to cheat US emissions tests on certain diesel engines.
The Mercedes-Benz case was brought before a German court by the buyer of a second-hand Mercedes C 220 CDI, which involved the vehicle’s exhaust gas recirculation system.
The Regensburg court found that this system could constitute an illegal defeat device.
He seized the CJEU to find out whether, under European law, the buyer of a vehicle equipped with such a device is entitled to compensation, and under what conditions.
German lawyer Claus Goldenstein, who represents 42,500 stakeholders in the case, felt that the introduction of a notion of “negligence”, not just intentionality, against the companies being prosecuted could facilitate the proceedings.
The Advocate General of the CJEU, Athanasios Rantos, believes that it is up to EU Member States to determine the methods for calculating any compensation so that it is proportional to the damage suffered.
Mercedes-Benz said it is awaiting the court’s opinion, which is not binding.
In May, Volkswagen said it would pay 193 million pounds (226.51 million euros) in an out-of-court settlement to some 91,000 UK drivers over the diesel emissions scandal.
(Reports Philip Blenkinsop, Riham Alkousaa and Ilona Wissenbach; French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Sophie Louet)
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