Romanian Govt Says EU Commissioner Spoke Too Soon On Car Tax Issue

She reminded that the car registration tax is an environmental measure, in a bid to reduce carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions. She added the tax is not discriminatory, as it is applied both to domestic and imported vehicles.

 

"At a time when the European Union is trying to impose strict rules to reduce pollution caused by cars, it would be surprising to see Romania criticized for trying to reduce CO2 emissions with these measures," Spataru.

 

She also added that EU has a group working on a single regulation for car taxes, which includes a significant environmental aspect that refers directly to carbon emissions.

 

"Therefore, we consider that EU commissioner Laszlo Kovacs spoke too soon, as we do not yet know whether Romania’s case will be taken up with the European Court of Justice, nor what the court’s decision would be," Spataru said.

 

The European Commission on Wednesday took the second step in the infringement procedure against Romania regarding its car registration tax, giving the country a two-month deadline to amend its tax regime. If Romania fails to comply, the Commission may refer it to the European Court of Justice.

 

The Commission feels the tax applied by Romania discriminates against second-hand cars brought into the Romanian territory from other member states.

 

Romanian authorities and EU experts will resume talks on the car registration tax next week.

 

EU tax commissioner Laszlo Kovacs told RFI radio he spoke to Romanian Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu, to whom he explained that “CO2 emissions from a small, old car can be equal to those of a brand new Porsche Carrera” and Romania’s environmentalist approach is legitimate, but a law cannot be based on the age of a car, and the government should give people their money back.

 

He added that Romania, once referred to the European Court of Justice, stands no chance to win this battle, as there is a precedent, as Hungary was forced to eliminate a tax that was deemed illegitimate.

 

The government expects revenues from the collection of car registration taxes of RON766.8 million this year, of which it collected 39% in the first six months of the year.