DUH sues the KBA over its handling of the emissions scandal as BUND calls for a diesel sales ban

27 March 2017

Environmental group German Environment Aid (DUH) has filed a suit against the KBA, the German motor authority, for its inactivity with regards to the Volkswagen (VW) diesel emissions scandal. In a move prompted by similar frustration, BUND, the association for the environment and natural protection in Germany, is seeking a court ban on the sale of Euro 6-compliant diesel cars that emit far higher emissions than permitted in real driving conditions.

German newspaper Bild reported on Friday that ′the Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) is suing the KBA before the Administrative Court of Schleswig, which is in the same state as Flensburg, where the KBA is based. The KBA has permitted VW to retrofit the 2.4 million cars implicated in the emissions scandal with software updates on pollution control systems and some technical fixes. This is core to the 29-page suit, which states that this is unlawful as no reference was made to the software when KBA originally approved the vehicles. Although VW is not part of the lawsuit, Bild reports that it has been in the carmaker’s hands since Wednesday and the KBA and VW have until the end of April to respond. DUH Managing Director Juergen Resch told Bild: ′We want to persuade the authorities to decommission or retrofit the vehicles. The US authorities would have managed to do so and it is also possible under German law – it just has to be enforced.’

The Administrative Court of Schleswig has also been approached by BUND, which has requested a ban on the sale of Euro 6-compliant diesel cars which are far more polluting in reality than test results have suggested. As reported by Spiegel Online, BUND traffic expert Jens Hilgenberg said: ′Every day, around 3500 new Euro 6 diesel cars are sold in Germany, which significantly exceed the legally prescribed nitric oxide limit on the road in some cases. This must be stopped to avert health hazards.’

BUND already asked the KBA to introduce this ban in November but the KBA rejected this on the grounds that it was not their responsibility. Whereas this heaps more pressure on the reputation of diesel cars, Autovista does question if the ban will be further extended to certain petrol cars too in the wake of test results released by ADAC, the German automobile club.