Brussels, 9th February – West Midlands MEP Daniel Dalton will be overseeing the European Parliament's response to new proposals on type approval of cars in the wake of last year's emissions scandal.
The Commission proposals published at the end of January included measures to strengthen the independence and peer review of testing centres for new cars, a forum for exchange of best practice between national type approval and market surveillance authorities and new powers to the Commission to conduct spot-checks of cars on the road, remove substandard vehicles from the market and withdraw permission for testing centres if they are not up to scratch.
Speaking after his appointment as Draftsman of the European Parliament's report to scrutinise and amend the Commission proposals, Mr Dalton said:
"A lot of people have asked me how the emissions scandal happened in the EU, and why the US authorities had to do our job for us in uncovering the problem.
"We need to have a more robust system in place to make sure the testing centres that approve new cars are trusted and seen as independent by consumers. After a house, a car is usually the second biggest purchase a person can make, yet so many people were let down - both by companies, and by the system.
"I believe that, with the right law and testing in place the effectiveness of national bodies can be increased and the level of cooperation between them can be stepped up. My priority will be restoring trust and confidence to those people who were so badly let down in the past, and I believe that can be achieved without excessive centralisation towards the European Commission."