In the process around blackened files, which had handed over the Kraftfahrt Bundesamt of the German environmental aid, a court has now decided against the authority: It must disclose controversial correspondence with VW in the diesel affair.
The entrance to the Kraftfahrtbundesamt in Flensburg.
Friday, 20.04.2018
5:41 pm
It is a serious slump for the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) – and possibly also for VW: The administrative court in Schleswig has given in a process of the German environmental aid (DUH) right, which had filed for access to the file in the diesel scandal.
Previously, the file had Kraftfahrtbundesamt of the German environmental aid (DUH) Although ever passed a file on the correspondence between the authority and the manufacturer in terms of exhaust gas scandal. On 581 pages it is about a recall at Volkswagen because of diesel affair, Only: you could read nothing – the files were completely blackened, However, the Kraftfahrtbundesamt of the German environmental aid must grant access to the file, the administrative court in Schleswig was a corresponding claim of the association instead.
Specifically, it is about the correspondence between the announcement of the diesel scandal on 18 September 2015 and 15 October 2015, the date of Recall arrangement of VW diesel vehicleswhich refers to this arrangement. However, the DUH sees an immense public interest in the communication between KBA and VW, as well as in the exchange between authority and Department of Transportation,
KBA took over blackening of VW unverified
The defendant KBA and also VW pointed in the negotiation on the fact that complex technical details are described, which allowed conclusions about concrete sales figures. In addition, a time and action plan for the recall of several million vehicles is included, which would give an advantage to competitors who would also have to recall vehicles if they knew this.
In the view of the Court, however, the public interest prevails, even if trade secrets should exist. In addition, the court criticized that the KBA has taken over the blackening of the complete file, among other things because of business and trade secrets “completely unchecked” by VW.