EU increasing pressure on VW
The European Union is hoping to coordinate the work of national consumer-protection authorities in 20 member states to impose penalties on Volkswagen following dieselgate.
The EU doesn’t have the power to fine VW for breaching its consumer-protection laws, but its executive arm is working with national authorities to seek compensation for breaching two laws – the directive on the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees, and the directive on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices.
This is according to German paper Die Welt.
VW has agreed a $14.7bn settlement with US authorities to compensate 475,000 owners of VW diesel cars, but has rejected a similar compensation package in the EU. It’s estimated that if Volkswagen were to offer similar compensation to EU car owners to that offered in the US, it could face a minimum of $40bn in costs.
