Volkswagen has won regulatory approval for technical plans to fix 8.5 million diesel engines in Europe equipped with software that cheats on emissions tests, enabling the company to start resolving a scandal that has hurt sales since September.

According to statements from the company, the recall program, scheduled to start early next year, applies to 1.2-liter, 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter engines, and the German clearance extends across the European Union’s 28 national markets. The 1.2-liter and 2.0-liter engines need only a software upgrade, while the 1.6-liter engine will also require installation of a piece of mesh to regulate air flow.

The approval allows Volkswagen start repairing the bulk of cars that carried the test-rigging software, though the clearance doesn’t apply in the U.S., where the issue first came to light three months ago and where regulators have widened the probe.

Volkswagen has spent that time trying to rebuild its reputation amid heightened scrutiny, and was able to determine last week that separate suspicions of potentially illegal discrepancies in carbon-dioxide emissions readings were unfounded.

Volkswagen say that they expect to start notifying affected customers in the next few weeks and said it will repair their vehicles in stages, beginning with those that need only a software update. Work will start on the 1.6-liter vehicles that need the hardware fix by the third quarter of next year, Volkswagen said.