Press Release No. 32/2017 IG Metall on the Diesel Summit: Industry has committed to an important milestone for reducing nitrogen oxide emissions...

Berlin – “Effective regulations to reduce nitrogen oxide pollution in metropolitan areas, binding standards for retrofitting diesel vehicles, and the establishment of a joint fund represent a significant step forward. It is unsatisfactory that the agreements reached do not yet have a legally secure framework. Consequently, the risk of driving bans, the concerns of owners of older diesel vehicles, and worries about negative consequences for employment remain,” concluded Roman Zitzelsberger, district director of IG Metall Baden-Württemberg, who represented the union at Wednesday’s diesel summit in Berlin.

The financial incentives offered by automakers—albeit highly varied—for replacing older vehicles meeting Euro 1 through 3 standards, or in some cases up to Euro 4, as well as the commitment to establish a fund for reducing pollutant emissions in cities, should be viewed positively as a first step. This is true not least because the proposed subsidies for zero-emission city buses and the accelerated expansion of the charging infrastructure represent steps toward zero-emission mobility.

However, binding rules that ensure the implementation, effectiveness, and legal certainty of all agreed-upon and future measures are crucial. “To this end, the announced expert panels must achieve significant progress—and they must do so before the federal election,” the union representative emphasized.

In light of the recent ruling by the Stuttgart Administrative Court on driving bans, IG Metall believes that legal certainty is of paramount importance—the court had argued that the state could not rely on the automotive industry to act “somehow” in its plans for air quality control.

The involvement of international manufacturers also remains highly unsatisfactory. However, the remedial measures must apply equally to all manufacturers. This was explicitly demanded in a joint statement by the works councils of the German automotive industry.

“The debate must not be about pitting environmental concerns, economic prosperity, or jobs against one another. Instead, we need a trifecta of the best environmental standards, a competitive automotive industry at the global forefront, and many attractive jobs for people. The statement that has been presented falls far short of this,” said Zitzelsberger.