No matter the brand, Europe's diesels flunked a pollution test

European officials knew that Volkswagen (VW) diesels fell short of pollution limits years before the company became engulfed in an emissions cheating scandal, records show.

And they also knew that diesels across the industry had problems that were similar, if not worse. The European Commission, the European Union's executive branch, performed road tests on emissions from seven diesel cars starting in 2007, but it did not reveal what cars or manufacturers had been involved in the tests when it published the results in 2011 and 2013. Internal documents obtained through the European equivalent of a Freedom of Information request, along with records recently made public by the commission, detail the results.

The tests were not intended to identify carmakers violating the rules. Rather, they were aimed at identifying the shortcomings of conducting pollution tests solely in laboratories and also assessing equipment used to test emissions on the road.

The vehicles were tested by the Joint Research Centre, a branch of the European Commission that bills itself as an "in-house science service." Nina Kajander, a spokeswoman for the centre, cautioned against drawing conclusions from specific models that were tested.

"It must be noted that the vehicles used for the research cannot be considered representative of the general level of emissions by the models in question," she said in an email. "These were scientific studies designed to compare different methodologies for measuring emissions in laboratories against those measured on the road."

Acting on the results, European policy makers developed a plan to require mandatory tests to measure emissions on the road with portable devices. The plan was approved by the European Parliament last week, though it has been criticised after automakers lobbied successfully to weaken the tests. European regulators have long had an accommodating relationship with the auto industry.

The testing found what independent research has shown for some time: Diesels are emitting far more nitrogen oxides on the road than in laboratory tests. Nitrogen oxides lead to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, smog and acid rain, and cause premature deaths. London - European officials knew that Volkswagen diesels fell short of pollution limits years before the company became engulfed in an emissions cheating scandal, records show. And they also knew that diesels across the industry had problems that were similar, if not worse.

The European Commission, the European Union's executive branch, performed road tests on emissions from seven diesel cars starting in 2007, but it did not reveal what cars or manufacturers had been involved in the tests when it published the results in 2011 and 2013. Internal documents obtained through the European equivalent of a Freedom of Information request, along with records recently made public by the commission, detail the results.

The tests were not intended to identify carmakers violating the rules. Rather, they were aimed at identifying the shortcomings of conducting pollution tests solely in laboratories and also assessing equipment used to test emissions on the road.

The vehicles were tested by the Joint Research Centre, a branch of the European Commission that bills itself as an "in-house science service." Nina Kajander, a spokeswoman for the centre, cautioned against drawing conclusions from specific models that were tested.

"It must be noted that the vehicles used for the research cannot be considered representative of the general level of emissions by the models in question," she said in an email. "These were scientific studies designed to compare different methodologies for measuring emissions in laboratories against those measured on the road."

Acting on the results, European policy makers developed a plan to require mandatory tests to measure emissions on the road with portable devices. The plan was approved by the European Parliament last week, though it has been criticised after automakers lobbied successfully to weaken the tests. European regulators have long had an accommodating relationship with the auto industry.

The testing found what independent research has shown for some time: Diesels are emitting far more nitrogen oxides on the road than in laboratory tests.

Nitrogen oxides lead to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses, smog and acid rain, and cause premature deaths.

"You've treated European customers with disdain," one member of the British Parliament told Paul Willis, VW's top executive in Britain, during a hearing last month.

Another lawmaker asked: "Would you agree it's been a public relations disaster?"

"It's certainly not been helpful to our brand image," Mr. Willis said.

Some other companies have also had to answer questions about why their diesels fail to live up to expectations. Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Renault-Nissan, recently defended his company against suggestions that it also cheated on emissions tests, after Renault said it would recall 15,000 diesels to fix a faulty emissions filter. And Fiat Chrysler said last week that it would update the software in many of its diesels to improve their emissions performance.

Last month, the European Commission also proposed a general overhaul of how testing was done in Europe. As part of the proposal, the commission could for the first time conduct its own spot checks of emissions from car models on the road, echoing the testing that the Environmental Protection Agency does in the United States. Aspects of the proposals, however, could face opposition from the Parliament and member states.

The VW scandal has highlighted the relative differences of the American and European testing systems.

In the United States, Volkswagen has conceded that the software was an illegal defeat device designed to cheat emissions tests. In Europe, however, the company has said the same technology is not illegal under European rules, which give automakers wide latitude to pick their own testing contractors, select their own test vehicles and even adjust engine settings.

"Our position is very clear that this is not a defeat device," Mr. Willis said repeatedly last month during the parliamentary hearing. Stewart McDonald, a Scottish member of Parliament, responded, "You seem to dance on the head of legal jargon," adding, "People are quite fed up."
©2016 The New York Times News Service