UEIL News EU PUBLIC AFFAIRS
False advertising by European Car Manufacturers: On the September 23rd the European Consumer organisation BEUC came out with strong claims against the European car manufacturers. Fuel consumption testing procedures have been examined for the first time by a consumer organisation in Europe. The outcome shows them to be misleading, often grossly understating how much fuel a car consumes.
The laboratory test run by BEUC’s Italian member Altroconsumo was carried out by an independent body and pushed the current test procedure for measuring the fuel consumption of cars to the allowed limits. Manufacturers claimed their cars were 18% - 50% more efficient. The cars tested were a Fiat Panda 1.2 and Volkswagen Golf 1.6 TDI. A first in the EU, Altroconsumo is now going to court in Italy to help owners of these two cars get their
money back. Those affected may have paid up to €500 more a year in petrol than could have been expected from the company advertisements (based on 15,000 km a year).
BEUC has long called on the EU to replace the outdated car consumption test currently in use with a new procedure adopted under United Nations auspices in 2014. Proving previous research this test by BEUC member Altroconsumo revealed how manufacturers use loopholes like overinflating tyres or reducing the vehicle weight or resort to using super lubricants to establish significantly lower fuel consumption figures in the official vehicle tests than in real-life driving situations.
On July 25th the Commission presented a new draft report to the members of CARS 2020, warning that it might take legal action if car manufacturers and dealers do not agree on a Code of Conduct before the end of the year.
In its latest draft report, the Commission specifies that “no consensus so far has been reached on a voluntary Code of Conduct in relation to vertical agreements”. Although the Commission continues to encourage discussions on this topic, the draft report stipulates that “if agreement is not reached at the latest by the end of 2014, the Commission reserves the right to initiate a process, with the aim of adopting a legislative proposal regulating relations between different players of the automotive sector”. After examining the revisions made by the Commission in its latest proposal for the final CARS 2020 report, Bernard Lycke, CECRA’s Director General, stated that “the inclusion of a clear deadline by which dealers and manufacturers should come to an agreement is very positive for CECRA, which has been engaged in discussions on a Code of Conduct for the last three and a half years. However, we regret that the wording used in this latest draft is not as strict as in the previous draft.”
In the Commission’s initial proposal, which was the subject of CECRA’s press release on 15 May, it was written that, if no voluntary solution is found, “the Commission intends to initiate a legislative procedure” aimed at developing a legal framework regulating relations between different actors of the automotive sector. In contrast, the current text stipulates that the Commission “reserves the right” to do so, without clarifying its ultimate intention. “While we recognise that certain parties to CARS 2020 might have an interest in introducing a certain level of ambiguity in the text, we believe that a document of this kind, which is the result of many years of hard work, should be as clear as possible” added Bernard Lycke.
Fiscal issues: Energy Taxation Directive The Italian Presidency has the intension to finalise the negotiations on the review of the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) and has produced a Progress Report on the ETD, in which the inclusion of lubes under EMCS is identified as one of the outstanding issues. The last technical working group meeting on the ETD took place on 22 September where mainly the rates on biofuels and transitional periods were discussed. UEIL will continue its outreach activities in the coming months to underline its concern to include lubes under EMCS and to emphasize that other more effective actions can be undertaken to address the concern on fraud. UEIL also formalised in close cooperation with Europia realistic alternatives and informed the EU Member States of these alternatives (this will hopefully facilitate a compromise in the end).
It is to be expected that negotiations on the review of the Energy Taxation Directive will continue for maximum 6 months (decision taken by unanimity).
LINK
www.ueil.org
UEIL TECHNICAL & COMPETITION COMMITTEES The Technical Committee and the Competition Committee have issued 1 OEM Bulletin since the last Lube issue:
• John Deere Forestry Oy - October 2014
The current cases, which have been raised by the membership, are: • Agricultural Equipment - 1 case • Off Road Equipment - 3 case • Passenger Cars - 5 cases • Motor Bikes - 1 case • Heavy Duty Diesel - 2 case • European Blender - 1 case
The next meeting is scheduled to be held in Brussels in January 2015.
LINK
www.ueil.org/en/news/technical-committee
UEIL 2015 ANNUAL CONGRESS The UEIL 2015 Annual Congress will take place in Malta, between 21-23 October 2015 – book your calendars! More information on the UEIL website.
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LUBE MAGAZINE NO.124 DECEMBER 2014
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