Diesel judgment of the administrative court of Cologne: reviews in Laschet

After the judgment of the Cologne Administrative Court on the ban on driving diesel vehicles in Cologne and Bonn, the state government and more specifically the NRW Prime Minister, Armin Laschet (CDU), have been strongly criticized. "Mr Laschet sacrifices the lungs of citizens of highly polluted cities to the interests of the automotive sector," criticized the director general of the German environment aid, Jürgen Resch, who complained current air quality plans.

Laschet had always insisted that he considered driving bans to be disproportionate. He has even referred to them as illegal in the past. During a hearing before the Cologne Administrative Court, the president of the court, Michael Huschens, referred to a judgment rendered by the Federal Administrative Court last February, stating that the prohibitions of driving with diesel were generally eligible. In addition, the EU limit values ​​for nitrogen oxides have been in force since 2010 and have since been ripped from cities. "The child has been in the well for nine years," said Huschens. And the longer the well lasts, the more action will be required.

Specifically, this means that a driving ban for older diesel vehicles meeting the Euro 4 emission standard as well as for gasoline engines belonging to the Euro 1 and 2 emission clbades must be introduced in Cologne in the local green zone from April 2019. From September 2019, diesel vehicles with a Euro 5 badge will also be concerned. Thus, a driving ban at the national level would for the first time affect a German metropolis. The mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, said after the judgment "significant restrictions in the daily lives of many people dependent on their car".

In Bonn, there must be bans on older diesel and petrol on individual routes. These should also apply from April 2019 and include in part directly also the Euro 5 diesel.

The state government has announced that it will appeal the verdict. "This is a mbadive intervention in the traffic pattern of the city of Cologne, with very significant effects for residents, commuters and the entire economic site," said the NRW Minister for the Environment, Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU). In their opinion, proportionality was not sufficiently explained in the judgment. Prime Minister Armin Laschet did not want to comment on request.

For this, the opposition has strongly criticized the black and yellow government. "Armin Laschet has been actively fighting against the modernization of diesel vehicles for a long time now, now he must present a coherent concept and no longer wegducken," said Thomas Kutschaty, chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the state parliament of NRW: "The verdict is again a vicious slap in the face of the state government's problem." The NRW Green group leader, Laschet's "denial on the back of the people" was sanctioned by the court.

Already in the coming week, new driving bans threaten NRW. Then the Gelsenkirchen Administrative Court negotiates another complaint about the aid to the German environment. This time it is air in Essen and Gelsenkirchen. But other cities such as Dortmund, Bochum and Düsseldorf are under surveillance.

The President of the Association of Towns and Municipalities, Gerd Landsberg, therefore calls for a change in the legal regulations. "The federal government must – as planned – urgently supplement the federal law on the regulation of immissions, according to which a ban on driving is not generally imposed, if the crossing of the border does not exceed ten micrograms per cubic meter of annual average air, "said Landsberg: The driving bans have been spared. "Bonn is also part of it.

The death of diesel in the medium term is bad for cities. "Because then we will not discuss nitrogen oxide soon, but pollution by particles and CO₂Landsberg says modern diesel vehicles have a much better environmental record than gasoline.

German manufacturers want to save diesel and are therefore ready for new concessions. In Berlin, representatives of German automakers said they could also support the retrofitting of old diesel vehicles in particularly affected cities, up to 3,000 euros.