The EU Regs for NOX emissions are more lax than the USA ones, VW were still breaking them.
The EU emissions tests are a lot less ‘real world’ than the US ones in practice- Manufacturers quote some wild fuel economy claims that cars never reach in the real world. Fiat’s Twinair engine is a prime example- quoted as around 70MPG in the 500, in the real world they average around 46MPG.
The taxation system of most countries is based around this. As an example, someone buying the aformentioned Fiat would pay no UK Car tax, whereas my 12 year old car which in the real world would have roughly the same CO2 emissions pays £185/yr, and that’s at the lower end of the spectrum.
