Op-Ed: “VKI v VW and the diesel scandal: final buyers may bring tortious claims before the courts for the place where the vehicle was purchased” by Enrique Vallines

1. In Verein für Konsumenteninformation v Volkswagen (C‑343/19) the CJEU was confronted with the interpretation of Article 7(2) of the Brussels I Regulation 1215/2012, in the context of the Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal. As it is well known, the scandal originated by VW’s installation in its diesel vehicles of software that manipulated data relating to exhaust gas emissions.

A consumer organisation, Verein für Konsumenteninformation (VKI), filed a claim for damages against VW in Austria, before the Landesgericht Klagenfurt (Regional Court Klagenfurt). VKI was acting on behalf of 574 consumers who had purchased VW diesel vehicles in the Klagenfurt area sometime before the US Environmental Protection Agency made the scandal publ