VW, BMW and Daimler Hindered Clean-Air Technology, European Regulator Says

LONDON — The German carmakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen colluded for years to restrict the development of clean-emissions technology, the European Commission said on Friday, a finding that could cost the companies billions of dollars in fines.

The collusion occurred from 2006 to 2014 during regular technical meetings at which the carmakers agreed to limit the development and production of emissions technology for cars sold in Europe, the commission said.

“Companies can cooperate in many ways to improve the quality of their products,” Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s commissioner in charge of competition policy, said in a statement. “However, E.U. competition rules do not allow them to collude on exactly the opposite: not to improve their products, not to compete on quality.”

“As a result, European consumers may have been denied the opportunity to buy cars with the best available technology,” Ms. Vestager added.

The commission’s finding, released as a statement of objections, is a result of an investigation that began in September after inspections at the automakers’ facilities.

A Daimler spokesman said that the automaker had been “cooperating extensively with the European Commission” and it “does not expect to receive a fine in this matter.”

BMW said it would examine the commission’s statement and added that “lawful coordination of industry positions on regulatory framework should not be equated with unlawful cartel agreements.”

No comment was immediately available from Volkswagen.

The next step in the inquiry is for the commission to review the automakers’ responses. It could eventually impose fines of up to 10 percent of each company’s annual worldwide sales.