17.8.2020

Official Journal of the European Union

C 271/21

(Case C-128/20)

(2020/C 271/28)

Language of the case: German

Referring court

Parties to the main proceedings

Applicant: GSMB Invest GmbH & Co. KG

Defendant: Auto Krainer Gesellschaft m.b.H.

Questions referred

1.Is Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information (1) to be interpreted as meaning that the equipment of a vehicle, within the meaning of Article 1(1) of Regulation No 715/2007, is inadmissible if the exhaust gas recirculation valve (i.e. a component that is likely to affect emissions performance) is designed in such a way that the exhaust gas recirculation rate (i.e. the portion of the exhaust gas being recirculated) is regulated in such a way that the valve ensures a low-emission mode only between 15 and 33 degrees Celsius and only below an altitude of 1 000 m, and, outside this temperature window, per 10 degrees Celsius, and above an altitude of 1 000 m, per 250 meters of altitude, the rate decreases in a linear way down to zero, meaning that NOx emissions increase beyond the limits of Regulation No 715/2007?

2.Is Article 5(2), which states ‘in terms of protecting the engine against damage’, of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information to be interpreted as meaning that an exhaust gas strategy that serves principally to protect components such as the exhaust gas recirculation value, exhaust gas recirculation cooler and diesel particle filter does not fulfil the exemption requirements?

3.Is Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 715/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2007 on type approval of motor vehicles with respect to emissions from light passenger and commercial vehicles (Euro 5 and Euro 6) and on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information to be interpreted as meaning that an exhaust gas strategy which ensures pollution control devices operate efficiently only between 15 and 33 degrees Celsius and only below an altitude of 1 000 m (‘temperature window’) and therefore do not generally operate fully functionally during the year in Europe, in particular in Austria, does not fulfil the requirement of Article 5(1) — operation of the vehicle under normal conditions of use — and constitutes a prohibited ‘defeat device’?

Language of the case: German

(1) OJ 2007 L 171, p. 1.