The European parliament is establishing a committee to look into the regulation of the automotive industry across the regional block, according to a Reuters report. The new committee will pay particular attention to the Volkswagen emissions situation and look at the regulatory structure of the industry in general to investigate if standards were too slack. The European parliament will vote today (17 December), according to the report, as to whether to proceed with establishing the committee, but sources close to the matter told the new agency that the vote will be a formality after there was a cross-party agreement earlier in the week to establish the committee.
Significance: The committee's inquiry could last for up to a year according to the report and will look at all aspects of the automotive regulatory environment in the European Union (EU), with a specific focus on "alleged maladministration in the application of the law", according to the proposal approved by the group leaders. The vote to establish this committee comes in the same week that the EU's environment committee voted against the latest proposals to allow original equipment manufacturers a significant amount of leeway in adhering to nitrogen oxide emissions limits, involving a conformity factor formula.
