EU Dieselgate: unveiling the weirdness of the EU’s attitude to compliance on environmental matters
(2019) ELNI review — Vol. 2, n° 2, p. 52-59 (2018)
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- Abstract
- Dieselgate was discovered in the US and not in the EU. Was this a matter of difference in inspection powers ? Or are there other explanations? The paper discusses the role of the European Commission in controlling compliance with environmental law, by contrast to compliance with competition law. It observes that information was actually available in the EU on the possibility of a fraud on emissions control by car producers, but that it did not raise much ado. This is not only due to the lack of centralized inspection power at the time but also due to a logic of empathy, typical of highly technical fields, which can get disrupted when an outsider enter into the picture, such as an NGO, a researcher, or a judge. Could the situation have been made any different if car-type approval regulation at European level was part of an all-encompassing Clean Air Act in Europe?
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Citations
Misonne, D. (2019). EU Dieselgate: unveiling the weirdness of the EU’s attitude to compliance on environmental matters. ELNI review, 2(2), 52-59. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/170347 (Original work published 2018)