The Volkswagen (VW) emissions scandal – The saga continues: Now it’s the turn of the Netherlands, France and Belgium

Thanks to the entering into force of the Dutch Collective Redress of Mass Damages Act (Wet afwikkeling massaschade in collectieve actie, WAMCA) on 1 January 2020, there has been an increase in prospective litigation against Volkswagen in the Netherlands and other countries in Europe involving the Volkswagen emissions scandal (also known as Dieselgate). We have previously reported on this law here and also on ongoing litigation against Volkswagen here (CJEU) and here (UK).

One of the institutes / organisations taking advantage of this opportunity is the Diesel Emissions Justice Foundation (DEJF), which was founded in the Netherlands, and which is seeking to be the exclusive representative in a collective redress action against Volkswagen. The DEJF is currently acting in the Netherlands, Belgium and France and has recently extended its activities to the rest of Europe provided that certain conditions are fulfilled (e.g. customers have not yet been compensated – one cannot be compensated twice and has to choose one representative – see more information here).

As indicated on its website, on 13 March 2020, DEJF summoned Volkswagen et al. to appear before the Amsterdam District Court under new WAMCA proceedings. DEJF requested to be appointed as the Exclusive Representative Organisation (“Lead Plaintiff”). A summary in English is available here and the full text in Dutch is available here. See a summary of the progress here.

Undoubtedly, the ongoing litigation in other parts of the world and its final outcome will have an impact on this action. We will keep you informed.