French government taken to court after “decade of inaction” on Dieselgate  

Almost 10 years to the day after the Dieselgate scandal first broke, France Nature Environnement (FNE), the consumer group Consommation, Logement, Cadre de Vie (CLCV) and ClientEarth are launching legal action against the French government for failing to hold auto manufacturers to account.  

The Dieselgate scandal exposed how major car manufacturers equipped vehicles with defeat devices to pass lab tests while polluting far above the permitted levels in real-world driving.  

Despite clear evidence – including a 2023 complaint brought by the three organisations bringing the case today and follow-up engagement with French authorities – the French government has failed to hold carmakers accountable or to order recalls at the scale required.  

Millions of dirty diesel cars remain on France’s roads, emitting toxic fumes far above legal limits. These illegal emissions are linked to asthma, strokes, cancer and thousands of premature deaths. The health impacts disproportionally hit the most vulnerable, including children. 

According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), this failure to hold auto manufacturers into account has already cost an estimated 16,000 premature deaths and €101 billion between 2009 and 2024. Authorities could prevent 8,000 additional premature deaths and €41 billion in economic costs by 2040 if they took action now. 

FNE, CLCV and ClientEarth have asked the Paris Administrative Court (Tribunal Administratif de Paris) to recognise the French State’s responsibility and order immediate measures – which could include investigations into vehicles suspected of using defeat devices, recalls and sanctions against manufacturers. If the State doesn't follow the court's order, the NGOs have asked the court to impose a penalty on the French state – for up to 50 million euros per semester. 

ClientEarth lawyer Gautier Rolland said: “Nearly ten years on, it’s shocking that millions of these cars are still polluting our streets. Governments could have acted quickly and forced the clean-up of these dirty vehicles. Instead, a decade of inaction followed. We’re suing the French government today because we think it’s high time it acted and made polluters pay.” 

If judges find that the French government failed to act on Dieselgate, the ruling could set a precedent and put in motion action in other European countries where the same polluting cars were sold. The European Commission also has coordination duties to help ensure a ripple effect of action across the EU if the use of prohibited defeat devices is established. The rules are clear that where the State does act, vehicle owners should not be left to pay for the costs of any recalls.