As the Volkswagen scandal continues to snowball, the environment and food minister, Eva Kjer Hansen, has her sights set on improving the tests of diesel car emissions in the future.
Hansen aims to attract the support of her European colleagues at the EU Commission meeting in Luxembourg today.
“I am pushing to quickly get new tougher testing methods out there that measure the actual emissions from the roads, and not from the car makers’ labs,” said Hansen.
“Today it’s about getting my colleagues on board with the notion of quickly introducing the better tests, so we don’t end up waiting 10-15 years before the new methods are completely implemented.”
READ MORE: Volkswagen scandal could affect nearly 100,000 cars in Denmark
Halfway there
The EU Commission has announced it intends to submit a proposal regarding the emission rules to a vote for EU member states on Wednesday October 28. The issue has been raised thanks partly to the efforts of Denmark, which has repeatedly pushed for a solution.
The Volkswagen scandal, which involved the German car producer cheating on the vehicle emission declarations of its diesel cars, could probably have been avoided if the EU had heeded Denmark’s call to change emissions testing protocol earlier.
Last month, Volkswagen announced plans to refit up to 11 million vehicles worldwide affected by the emissions scandal. But since then, more cases have surfaced.
“We’ve pushed for years to change the testing methods,” said Hansen. “We’re halfway there now with the EU Commission’s proposal, and now we need to get to the finish line by getting the member states to vote for it.”
