STRASBOURG, France -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she believes Volkswagen is doing its best to clear up its diesel emissions scandal and urged a member of the green lobby not to condemn the broader auto industry, warning this could put thousands of jobs at risk.
Addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg alongside French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday, Merkel said lawmaker Rebecca Harms, a member of Germany's Greens party, was exploiting Volkswagen's cheating on diesel emissions to argue for greater regulation.
"Please don't use this affair to do something that you might do anyway by political conviction, namely to condemn the automobile in general and thereby threaten many thousands of jobs in Europe," Merkel responded to Harms during a debate. "We shouldn't do that. We tend to have too few jobs in Europe rather than too many."
Merkel said the Volkswagen scandal is a separate matter, and answers would be forthcoming.
"Something happened at VW that urgently requires swift clarification -- where we need transparency and where I have the impression that the company is doing that," she said.
Bloomberg and Reuters contributed to this report
