Brussels to gain oversight of car emissions testing

The EU will take on new oversight powers over national car type approval authorities under draft legislation agreed early on Thursday after overnight talks between member state governments and European parliament representatives.

The EU Council and Parliament said they had agreed on reforms to type-approval and market surveillance that will hand the Commission an auditing role over national approval authorities. 

The EU executive will assess every five years national authorities that award EU-type approvals. It will also have powers to test vehicles.