Skip navigation
Newswire

EU Countries Urged to Investigate Emissions Tehnology

(Adds quote, detail)

BRUSSELS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - The European Commission wants all member states to investigate into how many cars use illegal "defeat" devices to cheat emissions tests in light of the scandal at Volkswagen, a Commission spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Volkswagen has said 11 million of its diesel cars around the world could be implicated after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed VW had been using software to mask pollutants.

"We are inviting all member states to carry out an investigation at national level," Commission spokeswoman Lucia Caudet told reporters. "We need to have a full picture of how many vehicles were fitted with defeat devices, which break EU law."

The Commission has proposed new legislation on tightening up its vehicle testing regime to produce results more in line with real driving conditions, which it says is the responsibility of member states to enforce.

It is also looking at whether the European Union's system of type approval, when new models are put on to the market, should be changed and has said it has called a meeting with national authorities, but it is not clear when. (Reporting by Barbara Lewis; editing by Philip Blenkinsop and David Stamp)