Couldn't they have prosecuted VW on the basis of "competition"? Like VW had an unfair advantage over other (non-EU) car companies because they didn't meet the

Couldn't they have prosecuted VW on the basis of "competition"? Like VW had an unfair advantage over other (non-EU) car companies because they didn't meet the standards. The reality is that they didn't want to hurt VW that much because it is an important EU company. Same reason the US fined the crap out of them -- but would have been lenient on Ford in the same circumstances. This is normal stuff. I was just responding to the idea that the EU was "too soft" on US tech companies.