However, as I said, with a small bribe you can take out any particle filter here. It's common knowledge.
Besides that, did those VW cars got banned from the streets? No! Does VW pay for my health issues? No! Those money are normal taxes to conduct business in Europe.
It's known for being a bit less strict and a bit more corrupt than the west. At least from what I gathered from my bulgarian, polish and greek friends and from my own experience over there.
Idk where you live but in France we have mandatory vehicle inspections every 2 years and you definitely can't bribe these guys. You'll get fined if you get caught, like everything else. How else would it work, we can't have daily inspections on every single thing that could potentially be made illegal.
I agree with your last point though, but that's the german auto mafia, these guys get away with a lot.
Like the most important industries in most countries of the world, sadly.