(Reuters) -Claims for compensation by British vacuum cleaner maker Dyson over European Union energy labelling rules should be reconsidered, the advocate general of the EU’s top court said on Thursday.
Dyson in 2018 claimed 176 million euros ($191 million) in compensation following its successful challenge of labelling requirements on vacuum cleaners introduced by the European Commission, which it said discriminated against its technology and misled customers.
The EU’s General Court had dismissed the compensation claim, stating the breach committed by the Commission had not been sufficiently serious.
That decision had mis-characterised Dyson’s argument that the Commission had chosen the wrong method to determine the energy efficiency of vacuum cleaners by testing them with empty bags, advocate general Tamara Capeta said.
“The Commission was aware, at the relevant time, that the empty bag test could not achieve the objective to inform consumers about the energy efficiency of vacuum cleaners and enable them to buy more energy efficient ones,” she said in her written opinion.
“Neither interpretative difficulties nor regulatory complexity could excuse the Commission for adopting the empty bag test.”
Dyson, whose devices were the brainchild of billionaire and prominent Brexit campaigner James Dyson, says ordinary cleaners become less energy efficient as their bags become clogged with dust, unlike its own bagless cleaner.
Capeta proposed to refer the case back to the General Court to decide whether other conditions for liability in damages have been fulfilled.
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(Reporting by Bart MeijerEditing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)
