Germany
Germanwatch vs. Volkswagen
Jurisdiction: National Point of Contact for OECD Guidelines
Side A: Germanwatch (Ngo)
Side B: Volkswagen (Corporation)
Core objectives: Climate impacts of Volkswagen activities
Summary
Germanwatch alleged in its complaint that Volkswagen violated various climate obligations because of its climate damaging product range and business strategy. The complaint was grouped into categories panning the failure of VW to formulate detailed climate protection goals and insufficient compliance with self-commitment under the ACEA Agreement with the European Commission. It also accused the company of being in transparency breach by not informing its consumers about the actual fuel consumption of VW automobiles.Although the NCP notified the receipt of the complaint and forwarded it to VW, it rejected the case in November 2007 on the ground that alleged violations were outside the scope of the OECD Guidelines.