Diesel scandal: Authority breakdown: VW escapes a loss of millions

The VW Group escapes a loss of millions due to data protection violations due to an authority breakdown. A fine of 4.3 million euros requested by the data protection officer will not be pursued further because the public prosecutor’s office had forgotten the signature at the decisive document, as a spokesman for the Hanover public prosecutor confirmed at the request of the dpa. The Lower Saxony Political Journal “Rundblick” had previously reported.

Specifically, it is about data protection violations when dealing with the VW diesel scandal that the state data protection officer had complained about. Specifically, it was about passing on data to the US supervisor Larry Thompson, which was used after the diesel scandal exposed. VW has not sufficiently informed its employees and thus violated the General Data Protection Regulation, according to the accusation.

VW defended itself against the penalty imposed in court – initially with success: the Hanover district court agreed with the car maker in the first instance at the end of February. The public prosecutor, on the other hand, filed a complaint with the Higher Regional Court, but now had to withdraw it. Reason: At the justification, the responsible public prosecutor’s own signature was missing, as the spokesman admitted. If the legal complaint is filed, a formal error was made.

Public prosecutor speaks of individual case, CDU von Skandal

Consequence: VW does not have to pay a fine, the judgment of the regional court in favor of the Wolfsburg has existed. It remains open whether the OLG would have decided in this way, since there is now no renewed negotiation. The spokesman for the public prosecutor spoke of an individual case that was based on the chain of unfortunate circumstances. He referred to the high workload in the authority.

The opposition CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament spoke of a scandal and wants to advise the matter in the legal committee. It is not about an accident on the side, but about a serious mistake that causes massive financial damage to the state of Lower Saxony, said a spokeswoman for the faction.

Administrative court only partially agreed

In contrast, VW had no success with his complaint against the underlying data protection complaint itself, about which the district court, but the administrative court had to decide. There, VW was only able to win a partial victory a week ago.

Two of the five warnings that Lower Saxony’s data protection officer had pronounced in 2023 were lifted. The crucial complaint about the poor data protection information for which the fine should be due. The judgment is not yet final, VW can still complain to the Higher Administrative Court. However, this no longer has an impact on the fine.

The diesel scandal came to light in autumn 2015 after manipulations during the exhaust gas measurements on VW diesel engines had appeared in the USA. The legal consequences of the exhaust gas scandal have so far cost VW more than 32 billion euros.