Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the European Court of Justice judgment that Mercedes-Benz must pay compensation for the use of illegal defeat devices in diesel cars on consumer rights.

The Government is committed to reducing air pollution from all forms of transport, and this pollution has significantly fallen since 2010. Emissions of nitrogen oxides have fallen by 45% and emissions of PM2.5 by 10%.

The DVSA Market Surveillance Unit (MSU) conducts an annual emissions-testing programme to test vehicle emissions in the real world. Where MSU testing identifies non-compliant emissions, including suspicions of a prohibited defeat device, DVSA works with the manufacturer to implement improvement plans.

The results of the MSU annual emissions-testing programme are made publicly available at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dvsa-vehicle-market-surveillance-unit.

In 2018 the Government strengthened restrictions against the use of illegal emissions technology by passing legislation making it an offence for manufacturers to place motor vehicles on the market which contain prohibited defeat systems. The Government will also bring forward legislation to enable it to require vehicles to be recalled on environmental grounds, as well as exploring other means to strengthen enforcement.

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit traders across all business sectors from engaging in unfair commercial practices in connection with the promotion, sale and supply of products to consumers. Trading Standards and the Competition and Markets Authority are responsible for enforcing these protections.

The Department has made no specific assessment of the impact of the case by the European Court of Justice judgement.