Economy
EU asks car industry to behave "more ethically and responsibly"
EU commissioner for industry El¿bieta Bieñkowska told deputies in the European Parliament that she will ask all member states “to verify that such tests on human and animals are not being conducted".
Last week it emerged that German auto giant Volkswagen tried to keep secret the results of a diesel emissions test on monkeys because it showed a worse health impact than expected, Euractiv reported on Tuesday.
Amid a storm of criticism over the experiment and over separate tests on German human volunteers commissioned by an auto industry-financed research institute, VW suspended its chief lobbyist Thomas Steg and labelled the testing “unethical and repulsive".
Bieñkowska told the MEPs assembled in Strasbourg that “the car industry has to behave more ethically and responsibly," adding the EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, was “shocked by the news of the tests conducted on animals and humans."
The experiments, revealed in a New York Times article, were commissioned by the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), a research body funded by Daimler and fellow German auto giants BMW and Volkswagen. It was shut down in 2017 amid controversy over its activity.
The same organisation also carried out tests on human volunteers.
The ‘Dieselgate’ scandal was sparked two and a half years ago when Volkswagen admitted that it had fitted out millions of cars with software that enabled them to cheat pollution tests.
Some 52% of Germans said they had “lost confidence" in the auto industry in a poll published last month, while a sizeable majority of 73% said politicians treated the vital sector too leniently.
Last week it emerged that German auto giant Volkswagen tried to keep secret the results of a diesel emissions test on monkeys because it showed a worse health impact than expected, Euractiv reported on Tuesday.
Amid a storm of criticism over the experiment and over separate tests on German human volunteers commissioned by an auto industry-financed research institute, VW suspended its chief lobbyist Thomas Steg and labelled the testing “unethical and repulsive".
Bieñkowska told the MEPs assembled in Strasbourg that “the car industry has to behave more ethically and responsibly," adding the EU Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, was “shocked by the news of the tests conducted on animals and humans."
The experiments, revealed in a New York Times article, were commissioned by the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), a research body funded by Daimler and fellow German auto giants BMW and Volkswagen. It was shut down in 2017 amid controversy over its activity.
The same organisation also carried out tests on human volunteers.
There is no EU law that justifies such behaviour. These were private tests, commissioned by the German car industry. The Commission does not accept this behaviour, and condemns it in the strongest possible manner
, the commissioner stressed.The ‘Dieselgate’ scandal was sparked two and a half years ago when Volkswagen admitted that it had fitted out millions of cars with software that enabled them to cheat pollution tests.
Some 52% of Germans said they had “lost confidence" in the auto industry in a poll published last month, while a sizeable majority of 73% said politicians treated the vital sector too leniently.
