Hearing of Janez POTOCNIK, former Commissioner for the Environment (2009 - 2014) at the Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector (EMIS), in the EP in Brussels. Statements by Janez POTOČNIK, former European Commissioner for Environment,&nbsp; Seb DANCE (S&amp;D, UK), Mark DEMESMAEKER (ECR, BE), and Bas EICKHOUT (Greens/EFA, NL)

Brussels

EICKHOUT, Bas (Greens/EFA, NL)

emissions of vehicles (T)

DEMESMAEKER, Mark (ECR, BE)

hearing

DANCE, Seb (S&D, UK)

Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector

POTOČNIK, Janez (SI, EC)

Hearing of Janez POTOCNIK, former Commissioner for the Environment (2009 - 2014): extracts from the meeting of EMIS Committee

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, First as you I was not responsible for car emission standards, I was responsible for air quality. Monitoring the implementation of the legislation connected with car emission standards was not my task, nor could I when launching an infringement procedure against a member states for breach of the legally required air quality standards connect direct to the issue we are discussing here.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, I was not aware that any car manufacture was cheating through the manipulation of software, I learned that at the same time as you when the VW scandal broke.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, I was actively arguing for faster and more efficient introduction of the EURO 6 standard and the new RDE procedure, their introduction and implementation should to a large extent the diesel emission problems, including the problem of the real driving emissions discrepancies.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, I was trying to raise public awareness by speaking loud and clear about the problem of existing discrepancy between testing and real world emissions on many occasions.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, I was not aware of concrete situations where defeat devices were used before the VW scandal emerged and to my knowledge at no point of time was the Commission.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, We were for a quite a long time engaged to try to remedy the situation. And we were on the right track with EURO 6 and RDE proposals, but yes be could and we should better.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, When something is so clearly breaching the implementation agreements written in EU law for such a long time we should be more active to ensure that would be addressed more effectively, not just in this case, but in all cases, where implementation is in question.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, It is indeed very important that you clarify all the facts in this particular inquiry case. This is the reason why I did not hesitate for a second in joining you today, but it is even more important that you through this process contribute to solutions which address the systemic challenges and in that way prevent similar cases in the future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Seb DANCE (S&amp;D, UK), (Concerning the letter addressed to the Commissioner Tajani, in 2013) I would be grateful if you would set out the scope for additional measures such as the withdrawal of a particular type approval and the requirement of immediate action of manufactures. Are you referring there to the list of additional technology that is available or are saying that where manufactures found not to be in compliance with existing air quality legislation that they should have indeed have that product be removed? If that is the later that shows the mal practice on the part of the manufacture, if the Commission was not aware of the defeat devices, what would that mal practice been, what is the rational of putting that in the letter?

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, There was many reasons probably, I have listened them in the opening statement, why I believe that this discrepancy existed. This what I mentioned in the letter was possibilities, I didn&rsquo;t want to push my colleague to one or another direction, I was just saying this is one of the things worth addressing, I&rsquo;m even not sure to be honest.

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, Each of us was not doing its part of the job properly. And it is really systemic issue and it is the issue of all implementation of all legislation. Not only this legislation, we can go in any legislation we want, we don&rsquo;t know how thorough struggle it is that you get a kind of positive attitude everybody, of all the actors which are important in the implementation especially in the environmental area, that the things are moving ahead.

SOUNDBITE (Dutch), Mark DEMESMAEKER (ECR, BE), (Concerning a EU observer article - from September2012)s To slow things down to delay action rather than tackling things and the article seem also to suggest that there was a sort of power struggle between the two DG&rsquo;s environment and industry, would you like to comment on that?

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, I think we have to simply admit that this part of normal life, there are services that have more one interest and other services which have more another interest and it is not just in this specific case like that. In anything we were adopting in the COM there were view struggles, or if you say, everything is a civilised debate, but in the end we fight for many different kind of outcomes and of course we were in the environmental side in this case on a more ambitious side than other colleagues from the growth and enterprise that time, but this is normal.

SOUNDBITE (English), Bas EICKHOUT (Greens/EFA, NL), The only answer you got, for example Mr Tajani is writing to you &lsquo;for this end we have adopted guidelines on financial incentives for clean and energy efficient vehicles aimed at assisting Member states&rsquo;. That doesn&rsquo;t sound that he is really addressing the topic that you are raising?

SOUNDBITE (English), Janez POTO&#268;NIK, former European Commissioner for Environment, I have no answer to that, as I told you the things were probably continuing on the services level, how much the discussion went in the direction you are asking, I don&rsquo;t know.