The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled on Tuesday that buyers of a motor vehicle equipped with emission deactivation devices may be compensated. The Luxembourg-based court thus resolves what is known as ‘dieselgate’: the claim for damages by an individual against the Mercedes-Benz group opens the door for other buyers to request compensation for vehicles with computer programs that manipulate their level of emissions.
In 2020, the CJUE already assured that this type of devices that falsify emissions are illegal, after it became known that the Volkswagen brand had installed software that altered the emissions of some diesel cars in laboratory tests. In this case, the ruling concludes that, in addition to general interests, Community law also protects the individual interests of buyers. It ensures that the framework directive “establishes a direct link between the manufacturer and the individual purchaser of a motor vehicle, which is intended to guarantee the latter that said vehicle complies with the relevant Union legislation”.
Therefore, it determines that the Member States “are obliged to provide that the buyer of the vehicle enjoys a right to be compensated by the manufacturer” and leaves it up to them to determine the criteria for obtaining said compensation. However, the court points out that national legislation “cannot make it impossible or excessively difficult” to obtain adequate compensation for the damage caused to the buyer. It indicates, in the same way, that national bodies must ensure that the protection of rights does not lead to “unjust enrichment of the beneficiaries”.
The origin, USA
It all started on September 18, 2015, when the US Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board accused Volkswagen (VW) of using “software” in its diesel cars to emit less harmful gases in approval tests.
Following the scandal, on September 7, 2017, the authorities of the European Commission sent a letter to the Volkswagen Group urging it to quickly repair all affected vehicles. In December 2017, Volkswagen committed to continue offering free repairs in 2018. In July of that year, the Commission and the national consumer protection authorities published their findings on the 8.5 million recalled vehicles in the Union. by the Volkswagen Group.
The authorities welcomed Volkswagen’s efforts to build confidence in recalls, and the significant improvement in the information provided to consumers. The repair rate exceeded 80% in 2020 and the Group committed to continue the free update until the end of the same year. The Commission and the consumer authorities regretted, however, that the company could not offer a complete and clear guarantee in case of problems after the repair.
On 11 August 2020, Justice and Consumers Commissioner Didier Reynders wrote to the Volkswagen Group to strongly encourage it to offer fair compensation to all affected EU customers, emphasizing that consumers expect to be treated fairly for the damage they have suffered in a similar way throughout the Union.
Following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the authorities issued a statement on September 28, 2021 concluding that Volkswagen’s business practices violated consumer protection law. The authorities asked the company to find suitable solutions, in order to avoid years of additional litigation. Until now, VW has only agreed to compensate drivers who were residing in Germany at the time of car purchase.
In response, VW said that voluntary payments to European consumers residing outside of Germany were not justified, as the affected vehicles had already been modified to meet legal requirements.
Already in 2021 and after five years of struggle, the OCU won the battle it was waging in court in defense of those affected by Volkswagen’s souped-up engines. This consumer organization called for the deception of the Volkswagen group to be recognized when manipulating its diesel engines, falsifying the emissions and the true emissions and requested for those affected compensation for the damages caused, for an amount of 3,000 euros each. This ruling was appealed on February 23, 2021 by the Volkswagen group.
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