EU commissioner demands Volkswagen provide a US-style solution for European customers
Volkswagen faced fresh calls from the EU Industry Commissioner to financially compensate European customers impacted in the fuel-emissions scandal after reports that a settlement will soon be finalised in the US.
Elzbieta Bienkowska upped the pressure on the German car giant. "Volkswagen should voluntarily pay European car owners compensation that is comparable with that which they will pay US consumers," she said.
It has been reported that a settlement proposal will be made to a US federal judge in the next few days. Such a settlement could see US customers compensated between $1,000 and $7,000. Similarly affected European customers have only been promised repairs and adjustments to software with no financial compensation.
The proposed US settlement is also thought to include an agreement to fund a programme to offset air pollution.
Volkswagen has argued that under EU law it has not done anything illegal and therefore European customers are not entitled to compensation.
Bienkowska, the former deputy prime minister of Poland, has previously called upon Volkswagen to do more than this for it’s European customers. She said that treating people differently solely because of a different legal system was unfair and added: "Treating consumers in Europe differently than US consumers is no way to win back trust."