Chancellor Angela Merkel’s supportive for cumulative lawsuits could require Volkswagen to offer to compensate owners of diesel vehicles in Germany as it has performed in the United States concerning emissions scandal, where Volkswagen has spent billions of dollars.
To this day Volkswagen has declined any payments for the owners of 8.5 million affected cars in Europe where different legal rules deteriorate the possibilities of clients winning compensation.
“We will most likely soon move to (discuss) the legal test case so that one can likewise bring about class action lawsuits which I support in principle,” Merkel stated in a TV debate on Sunday night, regarding a change in German law.
“It’s totally clear that the vehicle industry must be delegated what it has done,” she added in the debate with Social Democrat (SPD) challenger Martin Schulz before the September 24 election.
Merkel slammed a draft law on the concern submitted by the SPD as “too bureaucratic”, but stated she was open to starting conversations on the matter anytime soon.
A government representative stated it was unclear whether the chancellor’s remarks would declare a new pre-election push to agree a typical stance on the matter between Merkel’s Christian Democrats and Schulz’s Social Democrats, who presently govern in a grand coalition.
“Automobile executives have cheated,” Schulz stated during the dispute. “With legal test cases we could treat consumers in a similar way as also in other nations.”
The diesel emissions scandal has cost the automaker, around $25 billion in fines and settlements.
Merkel did reveal plans on Monday to double to 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) a fund focused on cleaning up metropolitan transport infrastructure to aim to prevent bans of diesel automobiles in a number of German cities.
