Germany gets special treatment on clean car law

Date: 30/01/1997

By Simon Coss

THE European Commission has been accused of discriminating between member states over 'clean car' legislation.

While Sweden is currently facing internal market infringement proceedings because its emissions laws are stricter than those in other member states, the Commission has given assurances to Germany that it will turn a blind eye if similar laws are introduced there.

The situation is embarrassing for the institution as both member states are actually leading the way in the type of clean car legislation it would like to see introduced across the Union.

The proceedings against Stockholm were launched before the German emissions law became an issue. It is understood that one of the differences between the two member states, as far as the Commission is concerned, is that while Sweden's rules are based on US standards, Germany's are more clearly in line with the institution's own proposals on emissions.

The planned German legislation seeks to reduce taxes by up to 130 ecu a year on cars which meet tighter emissions standards. Passage of the law has been held up by disagreements between Germany's two houses of parliament, but Bonn has indicated that it feels the impasse will be broken some time next month.

If the law is passed, Germany - like Sweden - will be breaking EU internal market rules by having laws tougher than those in other member states.

The Commission's decision to turn a blind eye to Bonn's actions was not arrived at without a great deal of internal wrangling, with seven Commissioners initially opposed to showing any leniency. But the others eventually persuaded their colleagues to take a softly softly approach.

“We think common sense prevailed. The legal service wanted to say 'no', but we felt if it was good for the environment and could speed up adoption of our 'Auto-Oil' proposals, the German approach was a good thing,” said one official.