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![handle is hein.journals/ejrr2016 and id is 12 raw text is:
4 | Mini-Symposium on the VW Scandal
Volkswagen: Bugs and Outlooks in Car
Industry Regulation, Governance and Liability
Marie-Eve Arbour*
1. Introduction
The scandal involving the Volkswagen group broke
out last Fall, at the dawn of the very delicate UN Con-
ference on Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris, and
the posting of an unofficial version of the Compre-
hensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA)1.
This so, just when a leaked version Transatlantic
Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) ran
through the veins of the Internet2 and the Trans-Pa-
cific Partnership (TPP)3 was just about to be signed
in New Zealand, fostering market integration by
pushing further national treatment and mutual
recognition, against the backdrop -albeit one small
step at a time- of an increasing demand for environ-
mental protection through the setting, among other
regulation tools, of emission thresholds4. Almost
ironically, indeed, the Volkswagen scandal raises very
serious conformity assessment loopholes, just when
a blowing wind in international trade seeks to reach
out for greater uniformity and mutual recognition of
regulatory procedures, knowing, too, that car indus-
try lobbyists are important players in defining
thresholds.
Most importantly and even before entering court-
rooms, the scandal also illustrates the impossibility
Universit6 Laval, Quebec (Canada). This special endeavour
surrounding VW is also the product of peer-reviewers, who
revised around the world the present pieces within extremely
short delays. Their comments and availability was most appreciat-
ed as the Number could not have been rapidly out without their
exceptional contribution. Translated and adapted, my own piece
builds upon Volkswagen, le commerce et les seuils GES: la
regulation des produits mise a mal, Repbres, Jan. 2016,
EYB201 6REP1 843.
1 Canada and European Union (EU) Comprehensive Economic and
Trade Agreement, signed on Sept. 26th 2014 [ CETA ], whose
Chapter XX on Technical Barriers to Trade provides for greater
cooperation in the field or Motor Vehicle Regulation, in order
...to strengthen cooperation and communication, including the
exchange of information on motor vehicle safety and environmen-
tal performance research activities linked to the development of
new technical regulations or related standards, to promote the
application and recognition of Global Technical Regulations
under the framework of the 1998 Global Agreement administered
by the WP29 and possible future harmonization, between the
Parties, concerning improvements and other developments in the
of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction if corporate so-
cial responsibility is not taken seriously, given that
actual regulation techniques and assessment confor
mity procedures move away from the outdated do-
mestic command-and-control paradigm. Albeit to dif
ferent extents in North America and the EU, for ex-
ample, many features of industries' self-regulation
are central to an effective protection of thresholds.
As a corollary and unless research and development
(R&D) enables domestic or supranational regulators
to crosscheck industries' home testing, conformity
assessment procedures are destined to remain an in-
adequate regulation tool. From a legal perspective,
what can be learned from VW's debacle? The ques-
tions invite to a kaleidoscopic answer, considering
that is touches upon many legal disciplines: be it
trade law, business law, consumer law, criminal law,
environmental law or liability law. Having in mind
to bringing up a useful mapping for future research,
the present EJRR number gathers different, yet com-
plementary, short opinion pieces against the back-
drop of the VW scandal.
In the absence of courts' judgements that usually
underlie most legal reasoning, lawyers generally hes-
itate to comment on contemporary events. Nonethe-
less, the scandal has so far inspired authoritative au-
areas of motor vehicle technical regulations or related stan-
dards : Annex, art. 1 (emphasis added).
2 The TTIP specifically addresses motor vehicle regulatory issues
see EUROPEAN COMMISSION, The Transatlantic Trade and
Investment Partnership (TTIP) Regulatory Issues - EU position on
motor vehicles, May 2014, online at http://trade.ec.europa.eu/
doclib/docs/2014/may/tradoc_ 52467.pdf
3 The Trans-Pacific Parternship does not encompass a special,
industry-focused section on motor vehicle trade. However, Chap-
ter 2 entitled National Treatment and Market Access for Goods
lists specific multilateral Annexes that target US/Japan and Cana-
da/Japan relationships (see 2-D: Canada Appendix D Appendix
between Japan and Canada on Motor Vehicle Trade, 2-D: United
States Appendix D Appendix between the US and Japan on
Motor Vehicle Trade, 2-D: Japan Appendix D-1 Appendix be-
tween Japan and the US on Motor Vehicle Trade, 2-D: Japan
Appendix D-2 Appendix between Japan and Canada on Motor
Vehicle Trade).
4 Regarding the political dimension of thresholds, see Agathe VAN
LANG, Droit de I'environnement, Paris, PUF, pp. 78-80.
EJRR 1|2016](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ejrr2016&div=6&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)