The recent Volkswagen emissions scandal did not just expose a particularly odious scam, it also shows how incredibly powerful the automobile lobby is in Europe. Now European politicians must show that they're worth their salt and prove that it is they who run the Continent, not well-paid lobbyists.
It is said that no other European capital holds quite as many lobbyists as Brussels. This is of course not because it is the Belgian government's seat, but because it is home to the European Union's governing institutions that ultimately shape national laws in the EU's member states.
One of the most powerful lobby groups is the automotive industry. This is hardly surprising. The figures presented by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association show how much of a powerhouse the car industry is. According to the association, the industry accounts for approximately €396 billion in tax contributions in Europe. That's more than the combined annual gross domestic product of Denmark and Luxemburg.
The industry also employs a lot of people. Some 12.1 million people work in the industry, the manufacturers association claims, or 5.6 percent of the entire EU workforce. The geographical spread of the industry gives it an extra power boost.
The car industry is the biggest in Germany. The industry employs some 750,000 people, generating €384 billion in revenues, or 20 percent of total German industry revenue. Impressive figures like these show just how powerful the car industry is in German politics. Germany is at the moment the most powerful force in European politics on account of the strong German economy, which is largely made possible by the size of its auto industry. In other words, Germany relies on its automakers not only to employ so many of its citizens, but to also help keep its economic engine revving.
But it's not just Germany. With the likes of automakers PSA Peugeot Citroën and Renault in France, the Fiat group in Italy, Volkswagen-owned Skoda in the Czech Republic, and Seat, also Volkswagen-owned, in Spain -- not to mention the Netherlands, which serves as a key supplier of high-end materials to the industry -- the lobby has powerful voices from key EU member states in Brussels.
So it was hardly surprising that an expert on the European automotive lobby on Dutch TV smiled a cynical smile when asked how it was possible that companies like Volkswagen got away with cheating for so many years. In recent weeks reports have surfaced about governments being in the know for some years that car engine emissions were probably higher than lab tests showed. Yet it took an American crew of inquisitive engineers to blow the lid off the scandal. Whenever European governments were preparing to undertake steps to tighten controls and testing on car emissions, the car lobby in Brussels and the EU member states kicked into gear and successfully pleaded to water down the plans, the lobby expert said.
Even new testing procedures considered weak by engineers have in past years been rolled back by the industry, he added. Thanks in large part to the Volkswagen scandal -- which has, subsequently, exposed other automakers -- there is much talk of governments finally acting on tightening the screws.
The industry expert, however, poured cold water on any expectations about governments actually coming through this time. The car lobby is just too powerful, he said; the industry simply employs too many people and makes too much money for governments, making it too powerful to curtail. He then cited a number of recent examples when a European government announced tough measures, only to in the end present watered-down concrete proposals to parliament.
And yet here lies the challenge for European politicians. Throughout the Continent voters are railing against the idea that their voice is rendered powerless due to the establishment elite, which goes its own way regardless of what people think or want.
In the Netherlands, nearly half a million citizens last month signed a petition forcing the government to hold a national referendum on an upcoming treaty of association between the European Union and Ukraine. Most people signed it not because of the merits of the treaty, but because they want to give a clear signal to the government that they must be heard; that further expansion of the EU must stop. And of course, anti-establishment parties are thriving everywhere in Europe, as many people believe that refugee and asylum policies are enforced without any serious public debate or discussion.
It is now up to European governments and the EU body politic to show that they mean business on the car emissions issue and prove the cynics wrong.
