The 45-member committee will present an interim report within 6 months, and a final report within 12 months, of starting its work.

MEPs approved the creation of the inquiry committee by 354 votes to 229, with 35 abstentions.

The committee will investigate:

the alleged failure of the Commission to keep test cycles under review,

the alleged failure of the Commission and member states’ authorities to take proper and effective action to oversee enforcement and to enforce the explicit ban on ‘defeat devices’,

the alleged failure of the Commission to introduce tests reflecting the real-world driving conditions,

the alleged failure of member states to lay down provisions on effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties applicable to manufacturers for infringements, and

whether the Commission and the member states had evidence of the use of ‘defeat mechanisms’ before the scandal emerged on 18 September 2015.

Note for editors

The request follows the discovery in the US that the Volkswagen group used software to drive down NoX emissions cosmetically during tests. Parliament voted a resolution in October calling for a thorough investigation into the role and responsibility of the EU Commission and member states and urging them to disclose what they knew of these breaches and what actions had been taken.