Overview

• France Nature Environnement, CLCV and ClientEarth lodged an administrative action in Paris accusing authorities of failing to force recalls or fixes on hundreds of thousands of high‑emitting diesel cars.
• The groups ask the court to recognize state failings and to impose measures to be implemented within six months, with an astreinte of €50 million per semester if action does not follow.
• They cite research from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air estimating 16,000 premature deaths and €101 billion in costs in France from excess NOx between 2009 and 2024.
• Official probes by France’s DGCCRF previously found large gaps between lab and real‑world emissions and described a global strategy to market fraudulent engines at PSA in a 2017 report.
• In a parallel criminal track, prosecutors have requested trials for Volkswagen, Peugeot‑Citroën, Renault and Fiat‑Chrysler, and the Paris Court of Appeal today rejected Renault’s bid to annul parts of the case.