The ban on Euro 5 diesel vehicles in the regions of the Po Valley, which should have enter into force on 1 October 2025, it has been postponed for a year. The news comes with the approval of a amendment to the Infrastructure decree, which received the green light from the Environment and Transport Committees of the Chamber.
Il postponement, strongly desired especially by the League, also brings a change in the management of environmental policies, giving greater flexibility for regional administrations to address the issue of air pollution.
Euro 5 diesel ban postponed: what's changing?
Il block postponement to the circulation of Euro 5 diesel vehicles Moves the deadline from October 1, 2025 to October 1, 2026. The structural limitation will concern diesel-powered cars and commercial vehicles of categories N1 (cars), N2 (light commercial vehicles) and N3 (heavy commercial vehicles) of the “Euro 5” category and will give. The Regions will now have one more year to plan alternative strategies of emissions reduction. Initially, the block was expected for the urban areas of municipalities with over 30.000 inhabitants in the regions of Lombardy, Piedmont, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, with restrictions on circulation from Monday to Friday, from 8:30 to 18:30. Now, the new amendment provides that the The restriction will only be applied in cities with a population of more than 100.000 inhabitants, a change that aims to reduce the impact on small local entities.
Furthermore, the new law introduces greater flexibility, allowing to the Regions to avoid the blockade if they can implement alternative measures for the reduction of polluting emissions. In this way, they will be able to avoid restriction of movement of Euro 5 vehicles, provided that solutions that comply with European standards are adopted.
Lega and Salvini rejoice
La Alloy, the main promoter of this amendment, welcomed the decision with great satisfaction. The Vice President of the Council and Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Matteo Salvini, called the postponement a “common sense choice“, which allows Regions to adopt customized solutions to address pollution without creating economic and social hardship. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the ecological transition must be accompanied by policies that truly support people, without imposing bans that could be unsustainable for families, workers and businesses.
The Richard Molinari, leader of the League in the Chamber and first signatory of the amendment, expressed satisfaction, defining this decision as a victory against European policies that, in his opinion, risked seriously damaging families and the economy of the regions of the Po Valley. "Putting a stop to the follies of Brussels on Euro 5 is and will always be an objective of the League", declared Molinari. Also Elena Maccani, a member of the League, commented positively on the postponement, underlining how this measure avoided a measure that, in her opinion, would have been "deeply unfair" and would have brought families, workers and businesses to their knees, especially in the most industrialized regions of Italy.
Environmentalists criticize it: "A populist delaying measure."
Of a completely different nature the reactions from environmental associations, who have harshly criticised the postponement of the ban on the circulation of Euro 5 diesel vehicles. In a joint note, Transport & Environment (T&E), Clean Cities Campaign, Citizens for the Air and the Torino Respira Committee have denounced the decision as “theyet another populist delaying measure“, accusing the government of putting public health protection on the back burner.
"The Dieselgate scandal wasn't enough, probably the most serious industrial fraud ever carried out, with the aim of concealing the actual emissions of an extremely polluting technology; and three convictions against Italy by the European Court of Justice were not enough for the systematic exceeding of concentrations of air pollutants, such as nitrogen dioxide, which comes largely from diesel vehicles", reads the statement released. The associations recall that in Italy, every year over 50.000 premature deaths from air pollution, with the Po Valley listed as one of the areas hardest hit in Europe by a serious health crisis. "Is the right to drive old, polluting vehicles more important than the right to health?" they ask.
Finally, environmentalists highlight how the costs associated with air pollution in Italy, estimated between 2024 and 2030, could reach 6% of the national GDP. "These costs also impact citizens' economies," they conclude, accusing the government of hiding the systemic effects of the environmental crisis behind the rhetoric of economic protection.
Last updated July 9th at 8,56:XNUMX AM
