Germany’s dirty diesel cars dumped to Poland as driving bans proliferate

Many diesel cars affected by the looming driving bans in Germany for having too high exhaust emissions are being exported to eastern Europe and especially to Poland, where anti-pollution policies still are less severe, the NGO Transport & Environment (T&E) says in a press release. In 2017, 350,000 old diesel cars found their way from Germany to Poland, 40 percent of which had an average nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions level of 1,000 micrograms per kilometre, over twelve times the EU’s latest Euro 6 limit, T&E says. The NGO’s Jens Müller said the export of polluting diesel cars has to stop. “Problems caused by a mass manipulation of emission tests by carmakers must be fixed, not brushed under the carpet. All EU citizens have an equal right to clean air,” Müller said.

Find the press release in English here.

For background, read the CLEW factsheet Diesel driving bans in Germany – The Q&A and the article Germany’s 'huge step' to solve diesel crisis leaves NGOs.