Highest Dutch business court overturns Volkswagen diesel emissions scandal fine

Volkswagen has won its appeal against a Dutch penalty related to the dieselgate affair, after the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb) ruled that the fine could not stand.

Volkswagen's Dutch fine stemmed from a 2017 decision by the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), which found that the company had misled consumers through its use of manipulated diesel engines. The court has now concluded that the penalty cannot be upheld because Volkswagen had already received a 1 billion euro sanction in Germany for the same misconduct. Under EU legal principles, a party cannot be penalised twice for an identical offence.

The dieselgate scandal erupted in 2015 after it emerged that Volkswagen had equipped millions of diesel vehicles with illegal software designed to cheat emissions tests. While the company marketed the cars as environmentally friendly, their real-world emissions were significantly higher than official test results suggested.

Volkswagen had long contested the ACM's penalty, arguing that it amounted to double punishment. While a lower court initially dismissed that claim, the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal (CBb) has now sided with the carmaker.

The tribunal ruled that the conduct cited by the ACM was essentially identical to the actions for which Volkswagen had already received a penalty in Germany, meaning the Dutch fine conflicted with the EU's ne bis in idem principle, which prohibits being sanctioned twice for the same offence.