Ruling stops license to pollute

Today, the General Court of the European Court of Justice issued a ruling on the amendment of the Euro6 norms and annuls the conformity factor in the RDE legislation. The European Commission watered down the limits for NOx emissions by introducing a conformity factor.

The Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament introduced in 2016 an objection to these changes but didn't get a qualified majority in the European Parliament back then. The European Commission has two months to appeal to this decision. If not, the Commission needs to come up with a new legislative proposal within 12 months.

Bas Eickhout, Vice-President of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament and leading candidate of the European Greens for the European elections 2019 calls on the European Commission to revert the decision:

"It's a great success that the General Court of the European Court of Justice confirmed today what the Greens/EFA group has been saying since 2016: The European Commission didn't have the power to amend the Euro6 emissions without a regular legislative procedure. With the conformity factor the European Commission artificially increased the NOx limits. 

The ruling stops the license to pollute for European car makers. It's a victory for all European citizens that are struggling with the health consequences of air pollution. 

We are now asking the European Commission to revert the decision and make sure that the car industry finally complies with the NOx emission limits that has been decided already 11 years ago."