"On the emissions tests thing case, what I have to say is that we are shocked by the news as everybody else. We take note of the German authorities aim to investigate the matter and we hope that they will," Schinas said.
On Monday, the Sгddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT) has conducted such tests on humans at the request of major German automobile producers, namely Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW, prior to which The New York Times newspaper published an article about the same tests on monkeys on Thursday.
Germany's @Bild has published invoice addressed to Lovelace Respiratory Research (LRR) for the purchase of 11 monkeys. LRR was commissioned by #EUGT, the company financed by @BMW, @Daimler (parent company to @MercedesBenz), @Volksagen, to conduct diesel emission tests on monkeys pic.twitter.com/biByV6262X
— Greg Kable (@GregKable) January 30, 2018
The spokesman stressed that, in his opinion, it was up to the national authorities to address the identified issues rather than up to EU executives.
Following the reports, the Volkswagen car manufacturer decided to suspend its head of group external relations and sustainability amid reports saying that the company might have been involved in tests during which humans and monkeys had to inhale car fumes in order to identify the impact of emissions on human health.
We are conscious of our social and corporate responsibilities and are taking the criticism regarding the study very seriously. We know that the scientific methods used by EUGT were wrong and apologise sincerely for this. The EUGT has been in liquidation since June 30, 2017.
— Volkswagen Group (@VWGroup) January 27, 2018
According to media reports, citing the EUGT, the tests on humans were carried out at University Hospital Aachen in 2012-2015. At least 25 people had to breathe in harmful emissions in varying concentrations for several hours after which they underwent a medical examination. As a result of the tests, the EUGT researchers have not managed to determine the emissions' impact on human health.
The EUGT was established by Volkswagen, Daimler, and BMW with the participation of Bosch multinational engineering and electronics company in 2007 and was then shut down in 2017.
