“The European Union … charges the polluter”

In recent years, all attempts to apply a pollution tax in Romania have failed. The new Minister of the Environment has a different vision on the subject.

Reducing pollution globally is a very important goal for most governments, including Romania. For this reason, owners of older cars, which generate more pollutants in the atmosphere, should pay more taxes. Whether it is called a pollution tax or not, the Environment Minister, Tanczos Barna, insists that it is the only solution.

The official insisted on an intervention on B1 TV that, soon, an unequivocal decision will be made in this regard. “If we want to reduce pollution, we have to see what we can do with traffic, industrial pollution, residential pollution and uncontrolled illegal burning. The tax can be a solution, as it is in Europe, but it is not a decision that should take at this time, now, me, nobody, only the Government.

That is why I said that it takes at least a year for a public debate, with scientists, with experts from the European Union to tell us which were the variants that went to Europe, that they worked, that they were legal and that they performed and reduced pollution in some centers. . The general or local element must be discussed and a broad assumption of this decision is needed, which must be both legal and enforceable. It is a discussion that has started, that will continue. This year we will certainly not have any extra taxes, but from 2022 I think we must have an unequivocal and assumed decision, “said the Minister of the Environment, on B1TV.

Finally, the argument in favor of such a measure is that Romania is far from being the first country to think about it. There are 24 countries in the European Union with such taxes, even if the real name or the way it is defined varies.

“We have seen that lately there have been more and more infractions against Romania, including air pollution. We have an infraction that practically forces us to take action and if we fail we will have to pay sanctions to the European Commission, because Romania cannot keep air pollution in various urban centers below the thresholds established at European level. We are talking strictly about urban centers: Iasi, Bucharest, etc.