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VW boss Herbert Diess: Letter from Brussels
Photo: Wolfgang Rattay / REUTERS
In the diesel scandal, the EU Commission called on Volkswagen to quickly compensate all European consumers. The EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, who is also responsible for consumer protection, said that VW should no longer "play for time" and wait for the outcome of the damages litigation in the member states. Volkswagen must "act just as resolutely outside of Germany as it does in Germany," demanded Reynders. This is "a question of trust".
"All consumers must be compensated," Reynders said.
So far, VW has shown a lack of willingness to do so.
Therefore, the group is threatened with even more serious damage to its image.
The EU Commission tried several times to talk to VW about it, but did not get a positive answer.
The EU Commission also published a corresponding letter from Reynders to VW boss Herbert Diess.
In Germany, consumer advocates and VW had agreed to pay customers between 1350 and 6250 euros, depending on the age and type of vehicle.
In the Netherlands and Italy, courts had awarded consumers around 3,000 euros, Reynders said.
VW should now send a clear signal to customers in other countries that they will be compensated in a similar way.
The consumer protection authorities of the 27 EU countries also warned VW in a joint statement to "reach out to consumers in all member states who are still waiting for compensation."
Only in this way could "this chapter be closed and years of legal disputes avoided."
The group had already admitted in 2015 that it had used illegal software to manipulate exhaust emissions in eleven million vehicles worldwide.
According to the consumer protection authorities, around 8.5 million diesel vehicles are affected in the EU.
Volkswagen had recently stated that in the past year the group had "taken important steps to advance the legal processing of the diesel crisis in Germany."
As part of a model declaratory action, VW reached a settlement with around 244,000 customers.
The total amount paid out was therefore over 750 million euros.
In May 2020, the German Federal Supreme Court ruled that Volkswagen buyers of tampered-with diesel cars had to pay damages in principle.
In July, the EU Commission imposed fines totaling 875 million euros in cartel proceedings against several German car manufacturers.
VW accounted for the largest single amount at around 502 million euros.
The proceedings concerned illegal agreements on exhaust gas cleaning in diesel cars.
hej / AFP / dpa