EU takes Germany to court over car coolant
BRUSSELS — The European Union said Thursday it was taking court action against Germany for failing to force luxury automaker Daimler to use a new air-conditioning coolant deemed less likely to cause climate change.
“The European Commission has decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the EU,” the highest court in the 28-nation bloc, on the issue, the Commission said in a statement.
“The Commission alleges that Germany has infringed EU law by allowing the car manufacturer Daimler AG to place automobile vehicles on the EU market that were not in conformity with the (mobile air conditioning), and failing to take remedial action.”
The court action against Germany, the EU’s biggest economy, comes as the German auto industry is under already unprecedented scrutiny following a separate pollution cheating scandal that has engulfed carmaker Volkswagen.
Temperatures have reached boiling point over the long-running coolant row that has seen Daimler claim the new refrigerant is too flammable, an allegation that Brussels denies.
The issue has also caused tensions to flare up with France which briefly banned some Mercedes cars that used the substance.
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