West Midlands Conservative MEP Daniel Dalton has reminded the European Parliament that consumers have been treated with contempt by car manufacturers, as he took part in a Strasbourg debate about the ongoing car emissions scandal. In the UK, 1.1 million cars are affected with over 4,000 cars having already been recalled. The software used by manufacturers to cheat emissions tests has caused significant damage to consumer trust. A car is the biggest consumer purchase most of us make in our lives, and for potential customers to no longer be confident they are buying what they think they are is deeply damaging to the European car industry.
Mr Dalton also made it clear that the EU needs to do a much better job in both enforcing and monitoring the current rules in place, whilst it also needs to learn from the US's more rigorous regulatory practices . Mr Dalton also called for the EU to look at the best practices of member states that have strong records on reliably monitoring car industry standards.
The success of the US in spotting the manufacturer's failure, also highlights why a free trade deal with America has the potential to improve protection consumer protection whilst also making imported goods cheaper.
Mr Dalton said:
"We need to be clear about what went wrong before proposing new legislation. There has been huge damage to consumer trust with millions of consumers being misled. They are now having to face recalls, inconvenience and increased running costs as a result."
"In this house we are constantly told by those who oppose TTIP that the United States is some sort of regulatory "wild west" where anything goes and that there are no rules at all. Yet it was the US regulators that found this – not the Europeans. Why were our regulators asleep at the wheel? It shows the need for regulatory coherence which is a key part of TTIP."