Buyers of manipulated diesel vehicles will not receive any compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany. That was decided by the Frankfurt Regional Court. Germany has sufficiently taken into account European law and has fulfilled its control obligations towards the auto industry.

The judgments can be appealed a court spokeswoman explained. Similar lawsuits are also pending at other regional courts, since the place where the vehicle was purchased ultimately establishes jurisdiction.

EU law properly implemented Germany has the directive 2007 / 46 / EC to create a framework for the approval of motor vehicles properly implemented in national law. “In the event of violations of the directive, the member states have a margin of discretion as to which sanctions they set,” explained the chamber.

Chronology of the exhaust gas scandal (74 Photos) mid-September 2015: The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accuses the Volkswagen Group of producing diesel cars of the model years 2009 to 2015 equipped with software too outsmarting the US environmental regulations. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) came to similar findings. Both authorities send complaints to VW. (Pictured: EPA headquarters in Washington DC)

(Image: EPA

) The judges hold the possible sanctions provided by the state against the manufacturer in the event of the disputed manipulation to be sufficient. The type approval could be withdrawn, fines imposed and finally the sale of cars with manipulated software could also be prosecuted as fraud.

Harsh penalties such as in the USA would not have deterred VW The plaintiffs’ assumption that tougher sanctions such as in the USA would have deterred manipulation is “not supported by any facts and the investigative proceedings initiated in the USA do not argue for their correctness either, “said the Chamber of the Regional Court. The

It is also “not reprehensible” that the Federal Motor Transport Authority trusted the test bench measurements of the manufacturers, declared the civil chamber. The officials should not have assumed fraud. “The fact that the well-known manufacturer of the vehicle, in whose parent company the State of Lower Saxony has a significant stake in terms of stock corporation law, manipulated measurements with the help of the defeat device was up to autumn probably to be regarded as absurd “, it said in the reasons for the judgment.

Only general interests affected There is also no EU law standard for the protection of their individual rights for claims for damages by the plaintiffs. “Rather, it can be inferred from the recitals of the Union legislature that only general interests are affected,” said the Chamber. “Individual interests, especially the property interests of vehicle buyers, are not mentioned in it.” The Chamber therefore refers the plaintiffs to the vehicle manufacturers if they want to claim damages.

(fpi)