BERLIN, Aug. 3 (Xinhua) -- The leader of Germany's Green party (Gruene), Cem Oezdemir, heavily criticized Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller on Thursday following a high-profile meeting between German government and automotive industry representatives on cutting diesel emissions.
Speaking to Deutschlandfunk, Oezdemir said Mueller's refusal to endorse motor retrofitting measures in light of the "dieselgate" and "cartel" scandals "bordered on brazenness."
On Wednesday, the automotive industry agreed to install software updates in 5 million diesel vehicles but rejected more expensive changes to vehicles' hardware.
"Obviously [Mueller] has missed recent events," Oezdemir said. Parts of the automotive industry still appear to believe that they can escape unscathed when it comes to lowering nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel vehicles, he said.
According to Oezdemir, the measures agreed at the summit were insufficient. A chance was thus missed to take meaningful action to improve air quality in cities. Consequently, driving bans for polluting vehicles remained an option.
Nitrogen oxide emissions are mainly caused by older diesel vehicles and have been tied to a range of respiratory diseases.
"We need at least a 50-percent reduction," Oezdemir said in response to the summit's objective of 30 percent lower nitrogen oxide pollutions by 2018. That higher figure is possible, but requires the government to take a tougher stance on the issue.
Germany could not rely on "voluntary measures alone" from the automotive industry, he said. A reorientation towards cleaner transportation technologies was necessary, similar to the decision made by the German government to shut down nuclear power stations after the Japanese Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
Green party politician Oliver Krischer was similarly disappointed with the summit's results.
"Thanks to their resistance to imposing meaningful hardware upgrades on car manufacturer, the CDU/CSU (Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union) and SPD (Social Democratic Party) are responsible for driving bans which are now likely to be imposed by courts," he said.
Last week, an administrative court in Stuttgart granted municipal authorities the power to impose driving bans if other measures to lower air pollution proved insufficient. Several German cities, including Munich, are currently considering bans on diesel vehicles.
