VW scandal: European Parliament set to agree Committee of Inquiry - Main contents

A majority of the political Group leaders in the European Parliament have today reached a political agreement to set up an inquiry committee, which could last up to 12 months, to investigate alleged contraventions of European Union law and alleged maladministration in the application of Union law that led to the recent ''diesel gate'' scandal. In particular, the inquiry shall investigate why so called "'defeat devices'' were permitted to be installed in millions of cars, why the European Commission failed to comply with the obligation to enforce EU emissions legislation and why the Commission failed to introduce tests reflecting real-world driving conditions in a timely manner. The proposal for this new Committee of Inquiry is expected to be finally approved by a full plenary vote of MEPs tomorrow.

Commenting after the political agreement today, Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe said:

"This is a victory for common sense and the rule of law. It is time to lift the bonnet on the diesel gate scandal once and for all. We need to find out what has gone so badly wrong and why EU law has not been upheld."

''No stone should be left unturned in the fight to uncover the truth about this environmental and public health calamity; someone has to take responsibility. I trust our committee of inquiry will ask the tough questions and get to the bottom of this.''

Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, Environment Committee Co-ordinator for the ALDE Group said:

"Dieselgate made it very apparent that authorities have failed to uphold EU law. Legislative improvements were kicked in the long grass, despite warnings of failing emissions tests. This Committee must find out who is responsible and how trust in the rule of law and democracy can be restored."